What level of excitement would the punctuation, !!!, represent?

[dullard]

In English, the exclamation point is reserved for important or exciting sentences. For example if the room is on fire and people's lives are in danger you would yell, "Fire!".

Now if one exclamation point represents a level of excitement that your life is in danger, what would two or three represent? I see it all the time, but what do people mean by them? How much more exciting or important is sentence B when compared to sentence A?

(A) Guess what? Brian said he likes me!!
(B) Guess what? Ted said he likes me!!!

Obviously they both have incorrect grammer; however, as a reader how should I interpret the difference in excitement? Is sentence B drastically more important or is the difference supposed to be interpreted as slight?

 

[murphy55d]

Anything more than 2 !'s means heightened excitement to me.

I would say that sentence B is indeed quite a bit more excited than the 1st. It's hard to put in terms of "how much more".

 

[Azraele]

I think more exclamation points emphasizes more emotion, whether it be excitement or anger. The number used is merely dependant on the individual, and cannot be necessarily be split with fine hairs as to whether or not 2 or 3 mean more. The only time where the # of ! should be important is if an excessive number were to be used.

For example:

He likes me!!
vs
I am sooooooooomad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Beau]

<< Anything more than 2 !'s means heightened excitement to me. >>



Or the person who is posting is just really annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dullard]

<< I would say that sentence B is indeed quite a bit more excited than the 1st. It's hard to put in terms of "how much more". >>



Should I interpret it as meaning that A is twice as important as dying in a fire and that B is three times as important as dying in a fire?

 

[murphy55d]

<<

<< I would say that sentence B is indeed quite a bit more excited than the 1st. It's hard to put in terms of "how much more". >>



Should I interpret it as meaning that A is twice as important as dying in a fire and that B is three times as important as dying in a fire? >>



Well that's a difficult analogy. Personally, if I were dying in a fire, I'd use about 8-10 !'s, which to me would be a shout, warranted by the presence of a fire.

3 would be...ah... hitting your finger with a hammer? "Ow!!!"

 

[dullard]

<< Well that's a difficult analogy. Personally, if I were dying in a fire, I'd use about 8-10 !'s, which to me would be a shout, warranted by the presence of a fire.

3 would be...ah... hitting your finger with a hammer? "Ow!!!" >>



English rules state that one exclamation point represents dying in a fire. That is why I have trouble interpreting two or more. Obviously they aren't as important as dying in a fire so obviously they don't deserve an exclamation point. But, we live with people who won't follow simple rules and thus I must learn to interpret the meaning.

Just looking at today's threads I see between one and eight exclamation points following a thread title. This gets quite annoying.

 

[ojai00]

I sold something on eBay on Saturday, and I've been trying to get in contact with the winning bidder for about 3 days now. I send him an e-mail titled "FINAL NOTICE: ebay item, item name"...and this is exactly what he replied with:

"what do you mean final notice??????????dam what is a person have to do but sit by his or her p.c. 24 hours a day,,,,get a life as i work alot of hours so dont come off and start making threats as to what you will do,,,,,go ahead and leave bad feedback but ill do the same if i have to,,,,,what is my fvcking total and where do i have to sent it too !!!!!!!!!"

Please excuse the curses...but he must be really excited!

 

[murphy55d]

<<

<< Well that's a difficult analogy. Personally, if I were dying in a fire, I'd use about 8-10 !'s, which to me would be a shout, warranted by the presence of a fire.

3 would be...ah... hitting your finger with a hammer? "Ow!!!" >>



English rules state that one exclamation point represents dying in a fire. That is why I have trouble interpreting two or more. Obviously they aren't as important as dying in a fire so obviously they don't deserve an exclamation point. But, we live with people who won't follow simple rules and thus I must learn to interpret the meaning.

Just looking at today's threads I see between one and eight exclamation points following a thread title. This gets quite annoying. >>



I think English rules are crazy then. 1 ! for a fire? No way, IMO.

 

[sandorski]

Hmm, well consider it this way: When it comes to chatting or posting on a messageboard, generally you are conversing in realishtime. Now most people converse with various levels of exuberance, so the addition of more"!" or "?" merely are used to make a more concise communication through the limited written form. This is acceptable(umm, I use it ) IMO, for language rules were written in context of a different form of communication. That being a primarily non-conversational communication method. Sucks for English purists I'm sure, but I suspect that eventually it will be considered normal and acceptable.

 

[khtm]

Who's Brian and Ted !!!??

 

[Scootin159]

Level 3

Level 3 begins promptly after another ! is added to an existing !!. To advance to level 4 you will need yet another ! to obtain a !!!!.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

!!! = sporting wood