Exclamation marks

Exclamation! Marks! Make! !Everything! !!!!BETTER!!!!

They should!! (must!!!) !always! be used with diverse text!!! which is necessary because diverse is the new uniform!!! and exclamation marks are the new full stops!!!!!! and they're so much FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN!!!

(Gosh I lost count. Did I close all the quotes and brackets and things?)

and ... Exclamation marks make everything more SINCERE AND FUN!!!!!!

Whenever you write !!anything!! which is !not! in the passive voice you should use !LOTS! of !WONDERFUL! !BOUNCY! !BUBBLY! !!EXCLAMATION MARKS!! and if you didn't understand that we'll write it again with EXPLANATION MARKS!!! (!!instead!!)

And remember, children, never use passive voice for anything because it is passé and icky!!!!!! and doesn't lend itself to wonderful aureate hyperspiffy FUN EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!! (darn I lost count of the quotes)

Origins

The actual symbol "!" originally represented a blunderbuss being fired. The blunderbuss part has lost most of its detail over the years, and the flames which were originally shown shooting out of the barrel have been dropped. The bullet is still clearly visible, however.

The peculiar orientation -- the blunderbuss is apparently pointing straight down -- is explained by the phrase in which it first appeared. It was originally used as a sort of little illustration which provided emphasis in the phrase, "Dude, you just shot yourself in the foot!"

We're not sure of the exact location where it originated, but the phrase was first used somewhere in the American West. The first additional use of the symbol was in Spanish. As it happens, the Spanish armada, which was being commanded at that time by General Santa Ana, was in the habit of firing warning shots to show that they meant business before they actually engaged. The warning shots were fired straight up in the air. Consequently, in Spanish the symbol appears in both forms: Shooting straight up, and shooting straight down, as in the phrase, "¡Amigo, te acabas de disparar en el pie!"