The Interrobang

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Interrobang

[in-ter-uh-bang]

This hybrid punctuation mark is the only symbol on our list that was born in the USA. The interrobang combines a question mark and an exclamation point to indicate a mixture of query and interjection or shock, as in: "She said what!?" In the case of the interrobang, both word and symbol are portmanteaus in that the word bang was used for "exclamation point" in 1950s secretarial vernacular. Similarly, the question mark is also known as the "interrogation mark."