[MR] Medieval punctuation

[Roy B. Scherer]

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	Here's the Q, and the A:

Dear Straight Dope:

Where did the question mark (?) originate? --Tom Kracun, Chicago

SDSTAFF Gfactor replies:

Let's get one thing out of the way right off the bat: It didn't originate
with cats.

A claim you'll find on some cat fanciers' Web sites is that the ancient
Egyptians based the question mark and exclamation point on the cat's tail.
The idea here is that a curious cat curls its tail like a question mark,
while an excited or angry cat will straighten its tail like an exclamation
point. You can guess for yourself what the period beneath the "tails"
represents.

This theory needless to say is malarkey. In the beginning, there was no
punctuation. So says Malcolm Parkes in Pause and Effect: An Introduction
to the History of Punctuation in the West (1993). . .

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mquestionmark.htm
-- Britton
end

		- - Roy B. Scherer
  [8 N. Sheppard Street, Richmond, VA 23221; (804) 355-7612]
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