I have only ever seen the interrobang discussed as a novelty; I've never seen it used in context. Is there a situation in which its use is acceptable?
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I use it all the time in comments on StackExchange sites and on the Internet in general. I don't think I have ever used it in any other context. – RegDwigнt Oct 15 '10 at 17:26
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It's a pain to use and still not guaranteed to display correctly, so I just use it in handwritten documents on the rare occasion it's actually appropriate. Incidentally, I also find myself increasingly inclined to use Hervé Bazin's "love point" (point d'amour) and certitude point (point de certitude), but prefer to call the former an affection point instead. Good luck typesetting those, though. – Jon Purdy Oct 15 '10 at 18:33
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@Jon The point d'amour is great! Would you mind using it in a sentence? – TatiLati Oct 15 '10 at 19:32
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Je t'aimerais toujours, mon petit chou⸮? (Pretend that's a point d'amour.) – Jon Purdy Oct 16 '10 at 03:42
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4I find the idea of the interrobang fun, but I actually find the design of it to be fairly poor. In many sizes and fonts, it simply looks like a smudged question mark. – Kosmonaut Oct 16 '10 at 04:42
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@Kosmonaut: You're absolutely right. It's not commonly typeset enough for many typographers to realise that it's necessary to maintain the integrity of the counterform in order for the glyph to read clearly at all. – Jon Purdy Oct 17 '10 at 16:12
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Short answer: no. Longer answer: at the risk of your reputation. Exclamation marks should be used sparingly anyway, and I for one tend to class interrobangs along with multiple exclamation marks as (to quote Terry Pratchett) a sign of mental instability.
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3So, I should avoid the interrobang, lest my latent insanity be discovered. – TatiLati Oct 15 '10 at 19:25
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As far as I've seen, it's more an experimental thing than any sort of formally accepted marking. Thus, for informal writing where you can be sure that the reader/recipient knows your intent, it should be acceptable. For more formal writing or business communications, especially those where irony or sarcasm would be badly construed, it's best to be more cautious and make your intentions clear in another fashion.
That being said, I'd like for it to appear more often, so—especially online—feel free to spread it around.
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Thanks munin! I'm going to spread this around like butter on the warm toast of the internet. – TatiLati Oct 15 '10 at 19:26