Irony punctuation

Irony punctuation is any proposed form of notation used to denote irony or sarcasm in text.

Among the oldest and frequently attested are the percontation point—furthered by Henry Denham in the 1580s—and the irony mark—furthered by Alcanter de Brahm in the 19th century.

Among the oldest and most frequently attested is the percontation point proposed by English printer Henry Denham in the 1580s, and the irony mark, used by Marcellin Jobard and French poet Alcanter de Brahm during the 19th century. In 1841, Marcellin Jobard, a Belgian newspaper publisher, introduced an irony mark in the shape of an oversized arrow head with small stem (rather like an ideogram of a Christmas Tree).

In 1841 Jobard proposed in his newspaper adding what he called "extra emotional typographic characters" (including an irony punctuation) which may be considered precursors to present-day emoticons and smileys.

, a reversed question mark later referred to as a rhetorical question mark, was proposed by Henry Denham in the 1580s and was used at the end of a question that does not require an answer—a rhetorical question.

In the 1580s, English printer Henry Denham invented a "rhetorical question mark" for use at the end of a rhetorical question; however, it fell out of use in the 17th century.

Irony punctuation is any proposed form of notation used to denote irony or sarcasm in text.

For instance, an irony punctuation mark was proposed in the 1580s, when Henry Denham introduced a rhetorical question mark or percontation point, which resembles a reversed question mark.

Written English lacks a standard way to mark irony, and several forms of punctuation have been proposed.

the "irony point" or "irony mark" (point d'ironie: )

In 1668, John Wilkins, in his famous An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language, proposed using an inverted exclamation mark to punctuate ironic statements.

In 1668, John Wilkins proposed using the inverted exclamation mark "¡" as a symbol at the end of a sentence to denote irony.

A bracketed exclamation point or question mark as well as scare quotes are also sometimes used to express irony or sarcasm. Scare quotes are a particular use of quotation marks.

Irony punctuation

Both marks take the form of a reversed question mark, "⸮".

The percontation point is analogous to the irony mark, but those are even more rarely seen.

Interrobang

Irony mark

Zing (punctuation) or irony punctuation, invented by English printer Henry Denham in the 1580s

Irony mark, a proposed punctuation mark

When used in conversations via email or instant messenger it may be used as a sarcasm mark.

Written English lacks a standard way to mark irony, and several forms of punctuation have been proposed.

Among the oldest and most frequently attested is the percontation point proposed by English printer Henry Denham in the 1580s, and the irony mark, used by Marcellin Jobard and French poet Alcanter de Brahm during the 19th century. , a reversed question mark later referred to as a rhetorical question mark, was proposed by Henry Denham in the 1580s and was used at the end of a question that does not require an answer—a rhetorical question.

A bracketed exclamation point or question mark as well as scare quotes are also sometimes used to express irony or sarcasm.

In 1668, John Wilkins, in his famous An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language, proposed using an inverted exclamation mark to punctuate ironic statements.

In 1668, John Wilkins, in his famous An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language, proposed using an inverted exclamation mark to punctuate ironic statements.

In 1841, Marcellin Jobard, a Belgian newspaper publisher, introduced an irony mark in the shape of an oversized arrow head with small stem (rather like an ideogram of a Christmas Tree).

In 1841, Marcellin Jobard, a Belgian newspaper publisher, introduced an irony mark in the shape of an oversized arrow head with small stem (rather like an ideogram of a Christmas Tree).

Hervé Bazin, in his 1966 essay Plumons l'Oiseau (“Let's pluck the bird”), used the Greek letter ψ with a dot below for the same purpose.

Hervé Bazin, in his 1966 essay Plumons l'Oiseau (“Let's pluck the bird”), used the Greek letter ψ with a dot below for the same purpose.

In March 2007, the Dutch foundation CPNB (Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek) presented another design of an irony mark, the ironieteken:.

Tom Driberg recommended that ironic statements should be printed in italics that lean the other way to conventional italics.

Scare quotes are a particular use of quotation marks.

When read aloud, various techniques are used to convey the sense, such as prepending the addition of "so-called" or a similar word or phrase of disdain, using a sarcastic or mocking tone, or using air quotes, or any combination of the above.