Dictionary of English - exclamation mark or exclamation point

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This is a punctuation mark (!) used to indicate emphasis or strong emotion: That's terrible!. It is appropriate after interjections: Rats!, emphatic greetings: Yo!, and orders: Shut up!, as well as those sentences beginning How or What that are not questions: How embarrassing! What a surprise!.

The exclamation mark is most often seen in dialogue. Its use is kept to a minimum in narrative prose and technical writing. Within a quotation an exclamation mark may be placed in square brackets to indicate that the writer or editor is surprised by something.

Exclamation marks are used to indicate urgency; contrast Let me get out, I need to go home with Let me out! I'm choking in here! They are sometimes used to suggest heavy sarcasm: You are a great goalkeeper! means the opposite in the context of a lost game. Overuse of exclamation marks reduces their impact. Double exclamation marks are always to be avoided.