[Sam Kapasi]

Well, to understand what an exclamation mark means, you should understand what an exclamation is.

To exclaim (notice the i in exclaim that is dropped in exclamation) is to shout out or make a sudden cry - because of enthusiasm, shock, surprise etc.

Now the exclamation mark is to signify that emotion in writing.

It's quite simple really.

I hate you. A quiet, logical statement.
I hate you!! An emotionally charged, strong statement.

I have seen people using it after every sentence

Those people are wrong. Shrug.

[shyamhegde]

Have seen people using the word 'just' many times. Is the usage right?
Examples:
"I came here just now"
"I just wanted to know how it works"
"I was just going there"
"Just a minute"
and so on....

[Ram]

Originally Posted by abhibh

One question to the English Lecturers and Professors here

What does exclamation mark mean !

I hate you!
I love you!
I won't leave you!

Why do people use it ? I have seen people using it after every sentence

The exclamation point is usually used after an interjection (as in Congratulations!) or exclamation.

It is used to indicate strong feelings or high emotion.
e.g. Awesome! -- (as an interjection)
The beast of an engine put out 440 bhp! -- (as an exclamation)

Repeating an exclamation mark for extra emphasis is not at all formal and should be avoided.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by abhibh

Why do people use it ? I have seen people using it after every sentence

Yahoo! Didn't! Help! With! This! The Register, a techie news site, loves to do! this! with news items featuring Yahoo!

If you emphasise everything, then nothing is emphasised.

A by-the-way curiosity. There is one British place name that contains an exclamation mark: Westward Ho! in Devon.

shyamhegde... Whether your examples are correct very much depends on the context, although the first one would be better phrased "I only just arrived", or "I only just came here". I suspect your word order is more Indian that UK-English on this one.

"I came here just now"

"I just wanted to know how it works"

Like I might have said to my parents when they found me with some expensive device in pieces. "I just wanted...", or, "I only wanted...".

Also when you have asked, and instead of receiving a simple explanation of the mechanics of something, you get a science lecture


A flexible word, just! It can be a problem with English; many flexible words, many 'flexible' spellings. (<-tempted to put a ! there, but thought better of it...)

Here's a challenge. Give an example of how the most number of consecutive punctuation marks can be correctly used.

"Do you come from Westward Ho!?". Is my starter, though I'm not sure about that stop after the quote marks. Wouldn't mind a refresher tutorial on punctuation including quote marks... Sam?

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

gets my vote as the greatest dismissive put down there is.

Hahaha, absolutely!
It used to irritate me a lot when people said it, but then i realised that not everyone means it that way.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

though I'm not sure about that stop after the quote marks. Wouldn't mind a refresher tutorial on punctuation including quote marks... Sam?

Yes, that would be good. Including parenthesis (and fullstops). < is this right?
As for quotation marks, according to websters, the only time to use single quotation marks 'like this' is when there is a quote within another quote (that is donated by the "regular quotation marks")

Also, above is a perfect example of how not to use quotation marks

cya
R

[rks]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

"Whatever..." --- also American speak (I think I got it from The Simpsons!), but gets my vote as the greatest dismissive put down there is. I've adopted it

The physicist Wolfgang Pauli, when he was reviewing a vaguely written paper, was supposed to have said: "This is not right; this is not even wrong". Since then "not even wrong" has remained a great put-down when asked an opinion about some idea, theory, etc.

[Thad E Ginathom]

This is not right; this is not even wrong --- Love it

[Samurai]

Hmm, yesterday I ordered a cocktail at a restaurant. I pronounced it as Gim-let. The waiter corrected me by saying Jim-let. I have ordered this drink else where and recall calling it Gimlet, as it is written. Anyway, I decided may be the bar waiter ought to know better. Still I couldn't bring myself to call it Jimlet, so I re-ordered it by tapping on the emptied glass.

So, what is the right way to say it, how did Gim become Jim?

[Ram]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Hmm, yesterday I ordered a cocktail at a restaurant. I pronounced it as Gim-let. The waiter corrected me by saying Jim-let. I have ordered this drink elsewhere and recall calling it Gimlet, as it is written. Anyway, I decided may be the bar waiter ought to know better. Still I couldn't bring myself to call it Jimlet, so I re-ordered it by tapping on the emptied glass.

So, what is the right way to say it, how did Gim become Jim?

Samurai, you are right and the waiter is wrong.

It's pronounced with a voiced guttural stop G as in Gill
not the voiced palatoalveolar affricate G as in Gymnasium or edge.

Check it out here.

Ram

[Samurai]

Thanks Ram, next time I visit the place, I am going to order a Gimlet. If the waiter tries to correct me, he is going to get an earful.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Yes, it is a gimlet, with a hard G.

A device, IIRC, for making a small guide hole in wood to take a screw.

Also a cocktail

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Yes, it is a gimlet, with a hard G.

A device, IIRC, for making a small guide hole in wood to take a screw.

Also a cocktail

so with a Gimlet, you can move on to the screw driver.

[Thad E Ginathom]

A very natural progression, yes!

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by Samurai

If the waiter tries to correct me, he is going to get an earful.

Educate him as SAM does many with this thread

[Surprise]

Please include a poll option, so that results would be easily viewed.

I had typed the above line in one of the threads. Can I repharse it as

Please include a poll option, so that results could be easily viewed.

______________________________

Could anyone point out the mistakes in the above contents