# What Exactly is Meant by "(!)"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 25, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508 "2003-02-25T23:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/1 "2003-02-25T23:42:54Z")
> [@](#): > > …In a dramatic scene, the movie’s hero rears up his horse and brandishes a flaming cross to summon the Klans to drive out the black oppressors (!) and their northern white allies who controlled the south during Reconstruction… _from [Cecil Adams](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_196.html), Straightdope Classics._ As you can see, Cecil uses it sometimes too: (!) The first time I ever saw it used was by a British author. But after I saw Cecil’s use of it, I began using it myself, mostly for irony and to show mock surprise and shock. But I have to confess, I never found out **exactly** what it means. What exactly is meant by “(!)”? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/2 "2003-02-25T23:46:36Z")
I think it’s used most commonly in a quoted passage, to indicate that the author believes that particular piece of text may suprise or shock the reader. That’s my take. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/3 "2003-02-25T23:46:49Z")
I have always taken it to mean either something like mock surprise or something like\> :eek: ; if the writer inserts a naked exclamation mark, the only way to read it really is as genuine (often surprised) emphasis, bracketing it makes it more of a comment in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/4 "2003-02-25T23:59:56Z")
It is a juxtaposition of the common use of a parenthetical (to add information that is not immediately necessary) and an exclamation point, expressing surprise or amazement. It’s equivilent to saying, > [@](#): > > …In a dramatic scene, the movie’s hero rears up his horse and brandishes a flaming cross to summon the Klans to drive out the black oppressors (which is very surprising and/or amazing.) ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/5 "2003-02-26T00:09:08Z")
It’s just a way of puttin in an exclamation mark, without having to end the sentence or interrupt the flow. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/6 "2003-02-26T00:10:22Z")
AND interrupt the flow, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/7 "2003-02-26T02:08:00Z")
How is it pronounced? I vote for “BANG!” ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/8 "2003-02-26T02:19:41Z")
It may come from chess notation. When there’s a report of a chess game, after unusual moves the editor sometimes inserts (?) to indicate a questionable move, and (!) to indicate an unusual, unexpected move. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/9 "2003-02-26T02:25:05Z")
… and here I thought it was a symbol for naughty bits… ---
**Author:** ![Hauky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/0ea827/32.png) [@Hauky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hauky)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/10 "2003-02-26T02:28:29Z")
FWIW, your various comic strips will occasionally have a word bubble with “!” in it to indicate surprise on the part of whoever is exclaiming the exclamation point. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/11 "2003-02-26T02:28:52Z")
Yeah. It’s a female bending over. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/12 "2003-02-26T16:30:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Northern Piper \* > **It may come from chess notation.** Could be, but I’d wager that you’re tranposing cause and effect. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![NoGoodNamesLeft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8797f3/32.png) [@NoGoodNamesLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoGoodNamesLeft)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/13 "2003-02-26T19:25:28Z")
MOre fun naughty bits: Bum: ( | ) BIG bum: ( | ) Boobies: (.)(.) BIG boobies: ( . )( . ) ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/14 "2003-02-26T19:39:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > **Yeah. It’s a female bending over.** What kind of women are you dating? It’s a woman on her back with her feet raised. Very effective when combined with the tongue smiley: =P( ! ) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/15 "2003-02-26T19:39:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr2001 \* > \*\*How is it pronounced? > > I vote for “BANG!” \*\* I vote for the sound of one jaw dropping ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/16 "2003-02-26T22:15:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr2001 \* > \*\*How is it pronounced? > > I vote for “BANG!” \*\* I always imagined it as sounding like the high pitched “ting!” of a triangle, or the similar sound you might hear when turning on a CRT monitor. Unpronounceable by a human, of course, but it always seemed appropriate. Ranchoth (Of course, there’s always “¡xo”) ---
**Author:** ![owlofcreamcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/17 "2003-02-27T00:22:33Z")
its often means “no really, thats what I was trying to write” if someone writes something factual that sounds absolutely untrue. like if you were summerizeing a news story and you hd to write “man eatten by flying octopus while swimming in a pool of mt dew(!)” ---
**Author:** ![douglips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@douglips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/douglips)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/18 "2003-02-27T00:55:49Z")
Remember in _The Matrix_ where Morpheus shows Neo something really cool, like he can jump between two skyscrapers, and Neo just says “…whoa.”? That’s the (!). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Frink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Mr.Frink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Frink)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/19 "2003-02-27T09:06:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > **It is a juxtaposition of the common use of a parenthetical (to add information that is not immediately necessary) and an exclamation point, expressing surprise or amazement. It’s equivilent to saying, _…In a dramatic scene, the movie’s hero rears up his horse and brandishes a flaming cross to summon the Klans to drive out the black oppressors (which is very surprising and/or amazing.)_** I disagree…in this instance, at least. I think it’s meant to point out the irony or ludicrousness of a statement. In the case of the original passage, I’d recast it thusly: > [@](#): > > …In a dramatic scene, the movie’s hero rears up his horse and brandishes a flaming cross to summon the Klans to drive out the black oppressors (HA! As if the blacks here are oppressors! How crazy is that!!!) or > [@](#): > > …have you heard that new song by Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock(!) ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-meant-by/157508/20 "2003-02-27T09:15:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tapioca Dextrin \* > \*\*I vote for the sound of one jaw dropping \*\* And this boys and girls is why I love this place… 😃