screamer
noun

- an exclamation mark
- a sensational headline
- a person who screams
- any of a primitive family (Anhimidae) of South American birds (order Anseriformes) having long toes and a bill like a chicken’s

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary

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ORIGIN

The origin of the exclamation mark is uncertain. The first one appeared in print around 1400. The exclamation mark, it has been argued, derives from the Latin "Io" (meaning joy). Putting the “o” under the “l” may eventually have morphed into “!”.

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BAD PRACTICE?

“Cut out all those exclamation marks,” wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald “an exclamation mark is like laughing at your own jokes.”

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GOOD PRACTICE!

The exclamation mark may be having a renaissance. In the book, “Send: The Essential guide to Email for Office and Home” David Shipley and Will Schwalbe make a defence of exclamation marks.

They write, for instance, ’I’ll see you at the conference’ is a simple statement of fact. ‘I’ll see you at the conference!’ lets your fellow conferee know that you’re excited and pleased about the event … and ‘Thanks!!!!’, they contend, 'is way friendlier than just ‘Thanks’.

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Back in time, when telegrams were kept short for financial reasons, Victor Hugo sent a telegram to his publisher. He wanted to know how his new book was doing. His telegram simply read: “?”… the publisher’s reply: “!”… surely one of the shortest text exchanges in history.

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PRACTICE OWAD in a conversation, say something like:

“The word SCREAMER is a very logical name for the exclamation mark, which really seems to be shouting at you."

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Paul Smith