Overuse, Poor Writing Blamed for Exclamation Point Shortage.
Washington, DC—Government officials confirmed today that supplies of the popular punctuation mark used to express surprise, shock or outrage, has reached critically low levels and shortages this writing season appear to be unavoidable.
“The exclamation point has been over-used to the point of near-extinction,” said senior staff member, Janet Falcone, of the Office of Manageable Grammar (OMG). “People seem to be unable to write even the most basic thought without adding an exclamation point.”
According to industry sources, the dwindling supplies and increased demand have depleted this once-rich resource. Compounding the problem is the growing number of English speakers in traditionally non-English regions. Exports of exclamation points have doubled every ten years since the mid-1970s, a growth rate that is only expected to increase this century.
