I often hear questions about the exclamation point. I always respond that it’s an informal punctuation mark that rarely finds its way into formal writing. Professional writers reserve exclamation marks for two uses: dialogue and less formal writing situations (like this blog!).

My friend Margaret Swanson just sent me a wonderful article arguing for a more liberal attitude towards the exclamation mark. The article comes from a quality source – The Fresh Air radio show on NPR. You can read it here: https://n.pr/2s1b8lR. Geoff Nunberg is an excellent writer who makes a convincing case.

Here’s what struck me, however: He employed the exclamation point only once in his article! So he’s transmitting a mixed message.

Still, it’s worth reading and pondering. (If you’re thinking that I deliberately inserted two exclamation marks into today’s blog…you’re right! Make that three of them.)