# Is there a name for this usage of the question mark? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-usage-of-the-question-mark/561834 "2010-11-25T00:13:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-usage-of-the-question-mark/561834/21 "2010-11-25T11:39:42Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Yes, I used the “isn’t” on purpose. I think **Exapno’s** pointer to the linguistic ellipsis is on the mark. I know you used “isn’t” on purpose, I was suggesting the person who wrote the original quote made the mistake. \*\*Exapno \*\*said: > [@](#): > > So when you say “Activity X is/isn’t difficult?” the full sentence is more like, “Do you really believe that activity X is/isn’t difficult?” But from what I understand, your online buddy said “Activity X\*\* isn’t\*\* difficult?” but meant “Do you really believe that activity X\*\* is\*\* difficult?” Note the “isn’t” in the first question and “is” in the second. That’s weird to me, so I thought it might have been a mistake. Normal to me: “Activity X is difficult?” –\> “Do you really believe that activity X is difficult?” “Activity X isn’t difficult?” –\> “Do you really believe that activity X isn’t difficult?” The seemingly weird / backwards situation described in your OP: “Activity X isn’t difficult?” –\> “Do you really believe that activity X **is** difficult?” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-usage-of-the-question-mark/561834/22 "2010-11-25T12:16:59Z")
I suspect we’re seeing American vs. Commonwealth English at work here. Looking over the comments so far it seems the Commonwealth folks think “… isn’t difficult?” seems ordinary & correct. The USAians seem to think “… is difficult?” looks / sounds right. But both are examples of restating the original assertion and expressing dubiousness (dubiosity?) via a “?” standing for rising spoken inflection. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-usage-of-the-question-mark/561834/23 "2010-11-25T12:22:52Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I don’t see how it isn’t a question. That sense of doubt is itself a question. It’s like adding “right?” to the end of a sentence. I just meant it’s not a grammatical question. There is no question only a statement. The “?” suggests a questioning tone of voice though. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-usage-of-the-question-mark/561834/24 "2010-11-25T13:33:38Z")
> [@Manwich](#): > > I know you used “isn’t” on purpose, I was suggesting the person who wrote the original quote made the mistake. Sorry, that wasn’t targeted at you, but at the posters upthread who had questioned whether I meant “isn’t” or not. > [@](#): > > But from what I understand, your online buddy said “Activity X\*\* isn’t\*\* difficult?” but meant “Do you really believe that activity X\*\* is\*\* difficult?” > > Note the “isn’t” in the first question and “is” in the second. That’s weird to me, so I thought it might have been a mistake. > > Normal to me: > > “Activity X is difficult?” –\> “Do you really believe that activity X is difficult?” > “Activity X isn’t difficult?” –\> “Do you really believe that activity X isn’t difficult?” > The seemingly weird / backwards situation described in your OP: > > “Activity X isn’t difficult?” –\> “Do you really believe that activity X **is** difficult?” Well, that’s just one example that he offered of words omitted through an ellipsis. As mentioned, “Activity X isn’t difficult, right?” is an ellipsis that doesn’t force the change from “isn’t” to “is”. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-usage-of-the-question-mark/561834/25 "2010-11-25T18:51:46Z")
I still wouldn’t mind seeing a couple of examples of this in the wild. Links? ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-usage-of-the-question-mark/561834/26 "2010-11-25T20:06:30Z")
> [@](#): > > **Capt. Ridley** : Suppose in some informal medium (like a message board, or chat room, say) somebody claims in writing that “activity X is difficult, so we should all adopt technique Y”, for instance. Dubious, somebody else writes “Activity X isn’t difficult?”, refuting the premise of the original claim. No specific question is being asked (though perhaps it is being used to request clarification), but the question mark is being used to mark suspicion, incredulity, etc. If someone wants to express dubiousness at the idea that Activity X is difficult, then he can say "Activity X is _difficult_? That is a rhetorical question. He isn’t looking for an answer. He is astounded that someone could say such a thing. > [@](#): > > **Richard Pearse** : I just meant it’s not a grammatical question. There is no question only a statement. The “?” suggests a questioning tone of voice though. Think so? You think it’s not a grammatical question – that it’s a statement. But that’s only because some words are “understood.” We take shortcuts in English, but that doesn’t mean that the sentences aren’t grammatical or sensible. The examples that were originally given are rhetorical questions. No answer is expected. A respondent can express dubiousness by repeating the statement of the original speaker: “Activity X isn’t difficult.” He _could_ put it in the form of a question with the same words if he wanted to. Here, it’s the facial expression and body language that should reflect the disbelief that anyone would dare suggest anything so stupid. In fact, you can express dubiousness without saying a word. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-usage-of-the-question-mark/561834/27 "2010-11-25T22:03:00Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Well, that’s just one example that he offered of words omitted through an ellipsis. As mentioned, **“Activity X isn’t difficult, right?” is an ellipsis that doesn’t force the change from “isn’t” to “is”.** Sorry, I have no idea what you mean by the bolded part. I’m not trying to be rude, I am genuinely curious about this. To me, the curious thing is the use of “isn’t”. I thought **Really Not All That Bright** , **Wallenstein** , **Richard Pearse** and maybe some others had the right idea. I don’t see how it can be a simple case of ellipsis. What words were omitted? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-usage-of-the-question-mark/561834/28 "2010-11-25T22:45:45Z")
I’d like to see examples of the OP’s construction. Not that I doubt they exist–I’m certain they do, though I can’t find any at the moment–I just think it will help clarify what he’s talking about. What I think he’s talking about is this. Suppose we were talking about speech rather than writing. I can hear in my head this conversation: “Chess is hard.” “Um, hello? No it’s not?” Of course no question was asked but I just used the question mark to indicate tone. I believe that’s an example of the same question mark usage as that referred to in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-usage-of-the-question-mark/561834/29 "2010-11-26T01:01:50Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > Think so? That’s not equivalent. It’s a shortening of “Do you really think so?” > [@](#): > > You think it’s not a grammatical question – that it’s a statement. But that’s only because some words are “understood.” We take shortcuts in English, but that doesn’t mean that the sentences aren’t grammatical or sensible. > > The examples that were originally given are rhetorical questions. No answer is expected. > > A respondent can express dubiousness by repeating the statement of the original speaker: “Activity X isn’t difficult.” He _could_ put it in the form of a question with the same words if he wanted to. Here, it’s the facial expression and body language that should reflect the disbelief that anyone would dare suggest anything so stupid. He is not repeating the original statement, that’s the thing. The original statement is that “Activity X **is** difficult.” He is making the opposite statement that should normally have stood alone, “activity X **isn’t** difficult.” But then he’s added a question mark that really doesn’t belong there. The question mark implies a questioning tone but it isn’t really related to the words themselves. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-usage-of-the-question-mark/561834.md?page=1)