Miscellaneous Punctuation

Not every punctuation mark was important enough to get its own article, but we felt a need to honor every mark on the keyboard somewhere on this website. Thus, in this article, we'll briefly explain all the punctuation marks we haven't already gone over.

Backtick (`): This mark is generally only used in programming. Since programmers designed the modern keyboard, they included the backtick for ease of use (and left out the em and en dashes!).

At Symbol (@): This symbol has had many uses throughout history. Today, it's most often used in email addresses or social media handles. "You should know that tylercunningham@thewordiswhom.com is not a valid email address."

Octothorpe (#): This mark goes by many names, including pound symbol, hashtag, and number sign. It is used mainly to denote numbers (#1, #2, #3), but has different uses in social media and telephone numbers. We decided not to put this in Mathematical Punctuation, as it has no real use in mathematics, but it was a hard decision.

Caret (^): This symbol was originally used to denote where text was missing, so this mark serves more of a purpose in handwritten text. In the digital age, it has fallen somewhat out of use, and is now often used to signify raising a number to a certain power (3^2 = 3 squared). Again, we considered putting this in Mathematical Punctuation.

Ampersand (&): Better known as the and symbol, this mark serves the same function as the word "and." The ampersand was once a letter of the alphabet, but has now been demoted to punctuation mark.

Asterisk (*): The asterisk functions rather like a footnote; it indicates to readers that additional information can be found below, allowing people to inform themselves about a topic without directly interrupting the flow of the text.

Underscore (_): This is another mark which originated in the world of computer programming. Since certain file names cannot contain spaces, underscores can be used instead.

Backslash (\): Unlike its cousin, the forward slash, this mark has no use in writing and is — you guessed it — primarily used in computer programming.

Vertical Bar (|): Guess what? This one is also used almost exclusively in programming! Whoopee! I exaggerate, of course; the vertical bar certainly has its moments of utility, especially when making emoticons. Still, it is somewhat aggravating that so many punctuation marks on the keyboard serve no grammatical function.

Thanks for reading, I guess. Fermions, this article really brought me down. Leave me now, to languish in my lachrymose lugubriousness. Go. There is nothing more to read.