# Quick question about grammar...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-grammar/184755>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 27, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-grammar/184755 "2003-06-27T14:06:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Qazzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@Qazzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qazzz)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-grammar/184755/1 "2003-06-27T14:06:27Z")

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I saw an ad in the train this morning which said:

The average water fountain handle has more germs than a toilet seat… Now isn’t that refreshing.

And I wondered, “Why didn’t that last part have a question mark instead of a period?” But then it occurred to me that people often intend to say things like that in a way that is not actually inquisitive. They say it on a downward slope, as though it’s a conclusion and not something to be answered.

What I’m wondering is whether there’s a grammatical term or explanation for something like that. Would it be considered an interrogative or declarative sentence?

Thanks, smarties. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Qazzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@Qazzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qazzz)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-grammar/184755/2 "2003-06-27T14:07:41Z")

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Ugh…

Sorry, the topic should have read “Quick QUESTION about grammar.”

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**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-grammar/184755/3 "2003-06-27T15:28:57Z")

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It’s a rhetorical question, and it should have had a question mark.

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**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-grammar/184755/4 "2003-06-27T16:13:12Z")

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Yep.

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**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-grammar/184755/5 "2003-06-27T16:16:11Z")

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I guess it would also depend on the tone with which one would give the statement:

Now isn’t _that_ refreshing? (yes, compared to sludge)

Now isn’t that refreshing. :eyeroll:

In an ad like that, seems like a question mark would have made the most sense. Would have been more eye-catching, too.

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**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-grammar/184755/6 "2003-06-27T16:48:49Z")

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When people say things like that, they inflect downwards at the end of the sentence (another example is the Church Lady’s “Isn’t that special…”); they assume that, since it’s not inflecting up it shouldn’t get a question mark.

They’re wrong.