(no subject)

[heidi]

Interesting article about being twelve, in the Washington Post.

The article includes the following paragraph:

There's a dance floor with DJ, video screen and smoke machine(!), a pool table, snack machines and a TV room, which this night is tuned to the Fiesta Bowl game between Ohio State and Miami.

The (!) is in the article itself - I didn't add it. Is that netspeak? Old style journalism? Is it grammatically correct?

Comments

[anatsuno.livejournal.com]

You mean the (!), yes?
I don't know in English, but in French it's part of the possible things to write, and has been in a good long while, journalistically at least. it's a gimmick I think I've seen in texts old a century, I'd say. So by my standards it would be correct - albeit in another language *g*

[kijjohnson.livejournal.com]

It's old-fashioned but acceptable.

[dangel.livejournal.com]

I think (!) has always been there, but is not extremely common. It's nice when you want exclamation and emphasis without going, huh?! and what?!.

[aome.livejournal.com]

What they said. :) I've seen that before as a means of adding a sense of astonishment or emphasis without interrupting the flow of the sentence too much. I've never heard one way or the other of it's "officially acceptable" or not, but I don't have any problem with it.

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

I use it in personal writing at times, but I would hesitate before using it in a newspaper article...

...and dadgummit, I used to have a Washington Post style guide that might have provided the answer, but it's gone. Hmmmm. Wonder where that walked off to.