I have been teaching English in Japan over the past eight and a half years, and have been doing study, meditations, and mantras on grammar over the past three of those years. It has been a satisfying study, though ambiguities often remain on grammatical points, as nothing is written in stone.
One misuse in style that I would like to write about is a phenomenon that I have witnessed in Japan. With writing, particularly advertising, Japanese companies love to use the exclamation mark.
If I consult the sutras of the Dalai Lamas of writing style, Strunk and White, here is what they have to say on the issue:
"Exclamations. Do not attempt to emphasize simple statements by using marks of exclamation.
It was a wonderful show! ------> It was a wonderful show.
The exclamation mark is to be reserved for use after true exclamations or commands."
It is a fairly straight-forward rule. Save exclamation marks for shouting or zealous, passionate remarks. So the question that comes to mind is how zealous and passionate should statements be to warrant the mark?
I guess common sense dictates: how earnest does your voice express the thought? Does your voice rise? Does your heart rate increase as you share the thought? Are your guts wrapping themselves up in knots as you say the sentence? Does your throat hurt after saying what you said? If so, I guess the exclamation mark is appropriate.
But in advertising, how excited should you be?
In my company's ads, there are exclamation marks all over the shop. Regrettably, my Japanese is not fluent enough to decipher what is being said to the customers, but I wonder what is said when an ad has no periods, but rather all exclamation marks after every sentence.
Recently for my company's cram/prep school division, I saw an ad which had a picture of a serious-looking female student on the front with three two-line sales pitches on the back of the flyer. Each point had not only one, but two exclamation marks!! Now, was the writer really that excited or shouting?
Also, I saw an English teacher (Japanese native) write a message to students at a branch expressing regret that she had to leave without saying good bye. There were five sentences: one was an interrogatory statement and had the appropriate punctuation. However, for the other four declarative sentences, one and two exclamation marks were used. An example: "Sorry I could not say goodbye!" Did she really mean to shout that?
In a newsletter written for students (partly in English, mostly in Japanese), the editor peppers the work full of exclamation marks with a heavy hand. If that is the running Japanese style (which a Japanese manager told me, and I informed him that the style was ludicrous), so be it. However, they ran an article on me with questions and answers that I had written previously.
One misuse in style that I would like to write about is a phenomenon that I have witnessed in Japan. With writing, particularly advertising, Japanese companies love to use the exclamation mark.
If I consult the sutras of the Dalai Lamas of writing style, Strunk and White, here is what they have to say on the issue:
"Exclamations. Do not attempt to emphasize simple statements by using marks of exclamation.
It was a wonderful show! ------> It was a wonderful show.
The exclamation mark is to be reserved for use after true exclamations or commands."
It is a fairly straight-forward rule. Save exclamation marks for shouting or zealous, passionate remarks. So the question that comes to mind is how zealous and passionate should statements be to warrant the mark?
I guess common sense dictates: how earnest does your voice express the thought? Does your voice rise? Does your heart rate increase as you share the thought? Are your guts wrapping themselves up in knots as you say the sentence? Does your throat hurt after saying what you said? If so, I guess the exclamation mark is appropriate.
But in advertising, how excited should you be?
In my company's ads, there are exclamation marks all over the shop. Regrettably, my Japanese is not fluent enough to decipher what is being said to the customers, but I wonder what is said when an ad has no periods, but rather all exclamation marks after every sentence.
Recently for my company's cram/prep school division, I saw an ad which had a picture of a serious-looking female student on the front with three two-line sales pitches on the back of the flyer. Each point had not only one, but two exclamation marks!! Now, was the writer really that excited or shouting?
Also, I saw an English teacher (Japanese native) write a message to students at a branch expressing regret that she had to leave without saying good bye. There were five sentences: one was an interrogatory statement and had the appropriate punctuation. However, for the other four declarative sentences, one and two exclamation marks were used. An example: "Sorry I could not say goodbye!" Did she really mean to shout that?
In a newsletter written for students (partly in English, mostly in Japanese), the editor peppers the work full of exclamation marks with a heavy hand. If that is the running Japanese style (which a Japanese manager told me, and I informed him that the style was ludicrous), so be it. However, they ran an article on me with questions and answers that I had written previously.
Fortunately, none of my writing had been tampered with (which had happened before with ad content that I had written in English for a special study course [exclamation marks and a statement were used that no native English speaker would use; that angered me, for any of my colleagues who would have read that would have said, "What the...?"]). However, the headline of the newsletter section was as follows:
"Hi! Everyone!!" And this was in an English school's newsletter. I was embarrassed to think that adult students probably saw it and thought that I had written so terribly and with such reckless abandon of English punctuation rules. But then again, they are so indoctrinated in the overuse and abuse of the exclamation mark, that they probably paid it no mind.
I can't entirely blame the Japanese, though. They have picked it up from the source, I fear. The first newsletter for us foreign teachers had just been distributed in late September. It was edited by a native speaker from Jamaica. There was buzz and excitement when it was handed out by the management. However, when I did copyediting on it and handed it back to a manager, he saw all of the blue marks and said, "Wow" (no exclamation mark here, for his wow was subdued).
One main mistake of style involved the exclamation mark and 'all caps.' It read as follows:
"Here are some ideas and tips to help make your school's Halloween Party a HIT!"
I feel that authors who depend on the tricks of exclamation marks, italics, bold or all caps lack confidence in there writing ability. The message should be clear enough and written in a way that the emphasis naturally comes through the reading.
In the case of the overuse of the exclamation marks (multiple attacks), I worry for Japan and for English natives (I have seen far too many abuses in emails both personal and in business). The head teacher of my school (a Swede) wrote an email request as follows:
"To all foreign teachers: The schedule is VERY tight, so please DON'T call in sick unless it is absolutely Necessary!! Thank you, XXXXX"
Quite strong for a request. Was he shouting at us poor teachers for even thinking about calling in sick? Oh, the guilt.
Another problem with overuse and abuse of the exclamation mark is reminiscent of the Cold War. One person has started off with one unnecessary exclamation mark. But another person might try to escalate things by adding another to show they mean business in the enthusiasm race. Then someone else feels inferior with their enthusiasm, so he has to up the ante by adding three more, and so the stockpiling of exclamation marks goes on ad absurdum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My final point about the overuse, abuse and misuse of exclamation marks is the impact gets lessened. The exclamation mark should be a powerful tool, like the word hate. But overuse diminishes the potency. It is like someone who always swears. It has no impact after awhile (I know; I used to work on ships). The ear gets used to it, but possibly annoyed as well.
"Hi! Everyone!!" And this was in an English school's newsletter. I was embarrassed to think that adult students probably saw it and thought that I had written so terribly and with such reckless abandon of English punctuation rules. But then again, they are so indoctrinated in the overuse and abuse of the exclamation mark, that they probably paid it no mind.
I can't entirely blame the Japanese, though. They have picked it up from the source, I fear. The first newsletter for us foreign teachers had just been distributed in late September. It was edited by a native speaker from Jamaica. There was buzz and excitement when it was handed out by the management. However, when I did copyediting on it and handed it back to a manager, he saw all of the blue marks and said, "Wow" (no exclamation mark here, for his wow was subdued).
One main mistake of style involved the exclamation mark and 'all caps.' It read as follows:
"Here are some ideas and tips to help make your school's Halloween Party a HIT!"
I feel that authors who depend on the tricks of exclamation marks, italics, bold or all caps lack confidence in there writing ability. The message should be clear enough and written in a way that the emphasis naturally comes through the reading.
In the case of the overuse of the exclamation marks (multiple attacks), I worry for Japan and for English natives (I have seen far too many abuses in emails both personal and in business). The head teacher of my school (a Swede) wrote an email request as follows:
"To all foreign teachers: The schedule is VERY tight, so please DON'T call in sick unless it is absolutely Necessary!! Thank you, XXXXX"
Quite strong for a request. Was he shouting at us poor teachers for even thinking about calling in sick? Oh, the guilt.
Another problem with overuse and abuse of the exclamation mark is reminiscent of the Cold War. One person has started off with one unnecessary exclamation mark. But another person might try to escalate things by adding another to show they mean business in the enthusiasm race. Then someone else feels inferior with their enthusiasm, so he has to up the ante by adding three more, and so the stockpiling of exclamation marks goes on ad absurdum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My final point about the overuse, abuse and misuse of exclamation marks is the impact gets lessened. The exclamation mark should be a powerful tool, like the word hate. But overuse diminishes the potency. It is like someone who always swears. It has no impact after awhile (I know; I used to work on ships). The ear gets used to it, but possibly annoyed as well.
But just imagine a well-dressed man talking about the beauty of life. His voice is deep with dulcet tones, and he smoothly glides over every consonant as if they were especially made for him. His cadence could charm the hardest of souls with an almost hypnotic effect. "Life can be full of experiences, good and bad, which are our teachers. Take them all in stride and never deny them with regrets or forebodings. Here is the secret to a happy, balanced life, which I have finally discovered after 40 years of living: Fuck it!"
Perhaps that was startling or even shocking (or maybe you were not even phased depending on how desensitized you are). Please forgive my crude vernacular for this example, but I hope you get the point. Powerful words and punctuation marks become diminished with overuse. Used sparingly and they retain their potency and can startle and surprise readers.
Please keep that in mind when using the exclamation mark!!!!
Carpe diem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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