The Irony Mark
Have you seen this SarcMark thing? It’s a “new” punctuation mark which has been reported by many of the slightly less salubrious media outlets (and even some of the more reputable ones).
The articles seem to come in two formats:
Straight-up copy-and-paste-from-the-press-release from the company that is selling* this new product,
Slightly amused tone, lots of telegraphed jokes based around sarcasm. Oh ho ho do you see what they have done there.
But three things seem obviously missing from the coverage to me:
Any mention of why company-tries-to-sell-something-lame is news, and why it’s deserving of what is basically a free advert in what is supposed to be the news section,
How ugly it is. Seriously. That thing is ugly,
Any mention of the fact that the irony mark—which is effectively the same thing—already exists, and was first proposed at the end of the 19th century. Some new meaning of the word “new”, then.
The wikipedia page about the irony mark—also known as the snark—includes some other wonderful punctuation marks which I’m sad haven’t caught on: the doubt point, the certitude point, the acclamation point, the authority point, the indignation point, and the totally sweet love point. Go check out the page to see what they look like. (Hint: they are all awesome.)
(Previously, on While You Were Punctuating)
* I kid you not. It costs $1.99.
