Answer: How many exclamation marks are too many?

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

One of our readers asks, “How many exclamation marks are too many? What is the standard usage on number of exclamation marks in a sentence or on a page?”

This sounds like a question born in the era of OMG!!!!!1!!1eleventy!, but questions around overuse of exclamation marks—or exclamation points in American English—have been around for much longer. Here is some advice, old and new, with examples from Stargate SG-1.

First, we’ll go to the authoritative sources. The Associated Press Stylebook says to use exclamation points for emphatic expressions, which they define as a high degree of surprise, incredulity, or other strong emotion. Similarly, the Chicago Manual of Style says an exclamation point marks an outcry or an emphatic or ironic comment.

Sam cried out, “Holy Hannah!” when the side of the ziggurat fell away to reveal a 50-foot wall of golden carvings.

“Holy Hannah!” whispered Sam as the bobbing lights in the containment field reproduced.

Daniel gave their prison bars a wry look, commenting “Well, this is charming!”

(Note that while exclamation points are often considered the punctuational indication of shouting, the latter two examples range from quiet to normal in volume of the speaker’s voice. Note also that using an exclamation point overrides the use of a comma or period you would normally place where the exclamation point is.)

Back to our question, how many exclamation points can we use? AP states, “Avoid overuse,” and gives the practical alternatives: “Use a comma after mild interjections. End mildly exclamatory sentences with a period.” CMOS is even briefer, with an aside that exclamation points “should be used sparingly to be effective.” They’re not the first to say so. Linguistics professor David Crystal collected several examples of published diatribes against the overuse of exclamation points.

Mark Twain opens his essay ‘How to Tell a Story’ (1897) by warning comic writers against the depressing habit of shouting at the reader, including the use of ‘whooping exclamation-points’, which, he says, makes him ‘want to renounce joking and lead a better life’. And there’s a much-quoted remark attributed to F Scott Fitzgerald: ‘Cut out all these exclamation points’, adding ‘An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.’ Repeated marks attract particular criticism. One of the characters in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novel Eric (1990) insists that ‘Multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of a diseased mind.’

On the other side of the argument, there is a growing feeling that text that does not include exclamation points feels flat or even insincere. The Onion satirizes the point in “Stone-Hearted Ice Witch Forgoes Exclamation Point,” but exclamation points, along with emoticons and emojis, do help add inflection and tone to emails and texts. What would Cassie think if she got a card that said:

Congratulations on getting your master's degree. I’m proud of your hard work and perseverance. (And I’ll still be proud even if you decide not to follow in the footsteps of your old uncle.) You can truly do anything you put your mind to. Much love, Jack

Just a little seasoning makes it seem warmer:

Congratulations on getting your master's degree! I’m proud of your hard work and perseverance. (And I’ll still be proud even if you decide not to follow in the footsteps of your old uncle!) You can truly do anything you put your mind to. Much love, Jack

Too many exclamation points, though, make it look like Jack is finally having that stroke:

Congratulations on getting your master's degree!!! I’m proud of your hard work and perseverance! (And I’ll still be proud even if you decide not to follow in the footsteps of your old uncle!!!!) You can truly do anything you put your mind to!! Much love!!! Jack

A graduation card is not a newspaper article or academic paper, which the style guides were written for. The type of writing you are doing is a major consideration when deciding whether or not to deploy those exclamation points.

Academic paper, formal writing: No exclamation points, unless directly quoting a source with an exclamation point

• Tora! Tora! Tora!
• The Yahoo! sale made tech stock news.
• Hello, Dolly!
• Similarly, Charles Stanton said, “Lafayette, we are here!”

Informal writing, blog post: Use sparingly, as they will lose impact. Try your sentences with and without to weigh the difference. See whether you can get impact with just your wording. Do not use multiple exclamation points together (unless quoting someone else’s use). Try for no more than one exclamation point per page, barring extraordinary need.

Fiction: Same as above, although you may have a scene with characters getting into a fight, or yelling over a distance. Even in that situation, try to create some variation in punctuation so that the scene does not come across as a monotone of shouting.

When the ice stopped shaking, Jack called across the huge crevasse that had opened up between them, “Daniel! Are you okay?”

Daniel’s voice carried back, gratifyingly strong, “I’m fine! But my pack got lost.”

“I’ll radio back to Teal’c at the gate and have him call in search and rescue.”

“Sounds good, but tell them to hurry!”

That they are shouting to be heard is implied after their first lines, and the exclamation point on Daniel’s last line denotes the extra emphasis he gave it.

Personal communications: This will depend upon your friend group. Again, too many exclamation points will diminish impact, but too few may make your friends wonder whether you’ve come down with the flu. Multiple exclamation points can be used for comedic effect (Jack. Jack! Jack!!!! I can’t believe you did that!), but, again, the less often it’s done, the more effective it is.

Outside of academic writing, there is no magic number for how many exclamation points are acceptable, other than “as few as possible.” Try taking them all out, then adding back in only those necessary to convey your tone. The less formal your communication, the less strict your exclamation point policing needs to be.

—

Thanks to fan-grammarian chiroho for pointing to several good resources.

Sources
The Associated Press Stylebook copyright 2007
Chicago Manual of Style 15th edition 
Exclamation Points (excerpting David Crystal’s Making a Point)

Comments

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Good job! I use a lot of exclamation points horsing around online also, but it is nice to have a reminder of the purpose of punctuation and what is effective and what is counter-productive. Thanks!

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

It's so easy to overuse them these days. I often go back through my emails and take half of them out before sending!

[china_shop]

This is great -- thanks! :-)

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reading—and commenting with an exclamation mark! ;-)

[starwatcher]

.
Oddly, I often notice the lack of exclamation points. Too often I see things like, "No," he shouted. Or, "Don't do that," he snapped. For the words to sound like shouting or snapping in my head, the exclamation point needs to be present.
.

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

What kind of monster doesn't use exclamation points!

[starwatcher]

<g>

[morethanmending.livejournal.com]

LOL, I love this article, and not just because I am now hyper-aware of how often I use exclamation marks in my commenting. ;) It's a good sort of awareness, though. I have a bad habit of tossing punctuation willy-nilly into my writing.

Thanks for the fun info!

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

It took people pruning mine in editing for me to say, "Oh, maybe I do need to pay attention...." :D