Monday, August 24, 2009

is that sarcasm؟

the symbol seen here, known as a percontation point, irony mark, snark, or zing, is also the symbol used in this blog's logo.

clearly a backwards question mark, this symbol first appeared in the late 1500s at then end of a rhetorical question, and was used to denote general irony at the end of the 19th century, but it has never been widely used.

my personal thought is that the world is finally ready for this symbol, and in fact we need it. this symbol could be a powerful tool for implying sarcasm (a form of verbal irony) in instant messaging, texting, and general textual forms of communication.

as a last note, because this symbol is represented by simply using an arabic question mark, it can really mess with your computer when you type it... it can make you type backwards and it is difficult to delete, so be warned؟

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