What's That Interrobang Thing?

Hey there. I'm Hannah. I'm a reference librarian.

I'm not sure you can call it obsolete because that implies that at one time it was used and possibly popular. Perhaps it's better to call the interrobang a “cult punctuation mark.”

This is two-fold for me. First, it is a signature of who I am as a reference librarian. The question weighs as much as the answer. The two are in harmony together. Richard Feynman stressed this – the point is not the answer, and that is hugely significant to me.

Second, I think it nicely wraps up who I am as a secular humanist. The interrobang's creator drafted it to represent doubt as well as surprise. The Elephant's Child ¹⁾ comes to mind here, with his insatiable curiosity. Never stop wondering, never stop being skeptical, and always remain ready to be surprised.

Props to Megan, an excellent artist with a steady hand, at Dogstar Tattoo for doing the work for me.