A difficult part of writing for me is when a single sentence–especially dialogue–contains two tones. It sounds best as a single sentence, but ending with a period, or alternative punctuation, looks wrong. As well as this, using two sentences also looks wrong.

I can’t think of a great example right now, but I know I’ve wanted punctuation that doesn’t exist before. I’ve had moments where it would have been so useful to have a “;!” and a “;?” mark.

  • TheSpookiestUser@lemmy.world
    37·
    3 months ago

    I often see this accomplished with dashed interjections - dashes! can you believe that? - as a way to break up a sentence while still continuing with a single train of thought. But I always support the invention of new punctuation, how long has it been since we got any? We’re well overdue.

      • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
        111·
        3 months ago

        ¡I love the interrobang! But I feel like we need more than just that. ⸘Would it not be fantastic to know the tone of a sentence from the beginning‽

        Also, I believe what OP is looking for is something like this image. Sadly, I can’t find a keyboard with them, or a copy/pastable line where they’ve been typed. 1000010473

        Would also be useful mixed with the interrobang. The backwards question mark “⸮” is also often used for rhetorical questions. But it’s sometimes replaced with ❓because it’s easier to type on a phone. ❗Is sometimes used for sarcastic enthusiasm, too, instead of the “official” sarcmark with is apparently copywrited and difficult to parse because it’s all swirly and weird, whereas the big red ❗ or ❓ is way more obviously out of place and meant to be noticed, like sarcasm or a rhetorical question.

        • 418teapot@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6·
          3 months ago

          I can’t find a keyboard with them, or a copy/pastable line where they’ve been typed

          Maybe use combining diacritical marks?

          I’m using 0x326 (Combining Comma Below), but you may need the CGJ in there to render correctly in all contexts

          e.g.

          Foo!̦ Bar?̦

          Edit: Combining grapheme joiner, not zero width joiner

            • 418teapot@lemmy.worldEnglish
              1·
              3 months ago

              Ah yeah I don’t know how I would do that easily on a phone. Do those in my example above render for you? You should probably be able to just copy/paste them on a phone if they do.

        • Etterra@lemmy.world
          21·
          3 months ago

          This is English good sir or madam as the case may be. If you want pre-sentence punctuation you’ll have to switch to Spanish or similar. Thank you.