The Interrobang in Vet Med: When "?" or "!" alone just doesn't cut it (#372)

Ever seen this combo – !? – at the end of a sentence and wondered what it means?

It’s called an interrobang – a fascinating piece of punctuation that blends the exclamation mark and the question mark into a single expressive gesture. It's used when a sentence is both a question and an exclamation.

The interrobang express both questioning and excitement, disbelief, urgency, or surprise – all at once.

Think: curiosity meets urgency.

The interrobang was invented in 1962 by American advertising executive Martin K. Speckter, who believed that advertisements would be more effective if they could express both excitement and inquiry simultaneously.

Though rarely found on standard keyboards, the interrobang remains a clever and expressive punctuation mark – especially in writing that demands both curiosity and conviction.

A friend recently commented on one of my LinkedIn posts:

“Dr. Rick. Time to get back in the trenches!?”

That interrobang said a lot.

It felt like a nudge. A challenge. A shared concern.

Was he inviting me to rejoin the battle for our profession?

Or was he expressing surprise that I ever stepped out?

Either way, it struck me: Tone matters. Especially in written exchanges, where nuance may be lost. The interrobang gives us a way to signal that we’re asking a question – but passionately so.

In an era of corporate takeovers, shifting values, and professional crossroads, maybe we need more interrobangs.

Was my friend's use of the interrobang a rallying cry? A nudge to speak out? An invitation to resist the slow erosion of our professional autonomy?

Possibly all three.

As corporatization tightens its grip and practice ownership fades into a distant memory for many young vets, the tone of our conversations is changing. So is the punctuation.

We’re not just asking questions anymore.

We’re demanding answers. Passionately. Urgently. Together.

So yes maybe the interrobang is our unofficial punctuation mark for this moment in veterinary history.

Who else hears it echoing across our profession!?

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