FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about Punctuation Marks the Spot
Quiz about Punctuation Marks the Spot

Punctuation Marks the Spot! Trivia Quiz


There are hundreds of punctuation marks. Some are archaic and rarely seen, while others are seen almost every day. How much do you know about the marks you use to get your point across?

A photo quiz by dcpddc478. Estimated time: 4 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. Humanities Trivia
  6. »
  7. English
  8. »
  9. Grammatical and Lexical Items

Author
dcpddc478
Time
4 mins
Type
Photo Quiz
Quiz #
377,271
Updated
Apr 20 24
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
737
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
-
Question 1 of 10
1. Which statement about the exclamation point is true? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. What is another name for this punctuation mark, often called a question mark? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Which of these is one of the standard uses of the asterisk? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The ampersand was, at one time, which of the following things? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. What is the term for a long series of unrelated typographical symbols used to indicate profanity? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. What is the term for the accent mark that you see in some Spanish words such as "seņor"? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. This punctuation mark is known as an ellipsis, is usually seen in fictional novels, and indicates that the character speaking has a French accent.


Question 8 of 10
8. This punctuation mark is called a "section sign", and is usually used in which type of occupation? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. This punctuation mark is known as a pilcrow. What does it indicate? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. The "at sign" was, for many years, used almost exclusively in sales and accounting.



(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

arrow Select a User ID:
arrow Choose a Password:
arrow Your Email:




View Image Attributions for This Quiz

Most Recent Scores
Oct 20 2024 : yyoung: 6/10
Sep 24 2024 : Guest 73: 4/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Which statement about the exclamation point is true?

Answer: Until 1970, most keyboards did not have an exclamation point.

The exclamation point didn't become a standard feature on keyboards until the 1970s. For years, an exclamation point was made by typing a period (full stop), backspace, and then typing an apostrophe. For those of us who remember, it made a dandy exclamation point!
2. What is another name for this punctuation mark, often called a question mark?

Answer: Eroteme

An eroteme is a punctuation mark that indicates a question or interrogation. While not all languages use a symbol to indicate a question, most written European languages do. Some, most notably Spanish, will even use one upside down at the beginning of the sentence and another one at the end of the sentence that is right side up.
3. Which of these is one of the standard uses of the asterisk?

Answer: It can indicate that the reader can find more in a footnote

An asterisk can have between five and eight arms, which can vary in shape. The name comes from its resemblance to a star. Its most common use is to refer the reader to a footnote where they will find relevant information that does not fit into the main text - usually either a comment of an expansion.

When written in front of digits representing a year, it means that this is the year of birth of the person under discussion. Asterisks can also be used to replace letters in a word that is deemed unacceptable to write in full, so that the original is implied rather than stated in full.

This is often done to indicate obscenity or profanity, but can also be a way of showing respect for a holy word that believers do not write in full.
4. The ampersand was, at one time, which of the following things?

Answer: The last letter of the Roman alphabet

The word "ampersand" was not popularly used until the 19th century, and has its origins in Latin. It is a corruption of the phrase "and 'per se' and". The symbol was commonly written at the end of the alphabet, and the Latin phrase 'per se' was used when saying a letter of the alphabet that could also be used as a word, to indicate that it is the symbol that is being referred to.

When the English alphabet was recited out loud, it therefore ended with "...xyz and 'per se' and". This eventually condensed into ampersand, and that term remained when the symbol stopped being written at the end of the alphabet.
5. What is the term for a long series of unrelated typographical symbols used to indicate profanity?

Answer: Grawlix

The term grawlix first appeared in 1964 in a book titled "Let's Get Down to Grawlixes". This unusual book was written American cartoonist Mort Walker, the creator of Beetle Bailey. There is no set order that a grawlix must be written in, and it was used as a polite way of implying excitement or profane words.
6. What is the term for the accent mark that you see in some Spanish words such as "seņor"?

Answer: Tilde

A tilde is an accent mark, commonly seen in Spanish and Portuguese. When placed over a vowel, or often the letter "n", this punctuation mark indicates nasalization of that letter.
7. This punctuation mark is known as an ellipsis, is usually seen in fictional novels, and indicates that the character speaking has a French accent.

Answer: False

This symbol is the pound sterling currency mark. The word sterling MUST be in there as the term "pound mark" means different things in different English speaking countries. Originally, it was a reference to a pound of silver.
8. This punctuation mark is called a "section sign", and is usually used in which type of occupation?

Answer: Legal

It is called a section sign, and is usually used as a reference to a particular section of a document. It is usually found in legal documents but is occasionally used in other occupations.
9. This punctuation mark is known as a pilcrow. What does it indicate?

Answer: A new paragraph starts here.

This archaic punctuation mark indicates that this is the spot to start a new paragraph. Paragraphs were not commonly used for many centuries as they wasted space. This punctuation mark is used in the field of law, more than any other. It is also often used by copy editors in the course of their work on any kind of writing.
10. The "at sign" was, for many years, used almost exclusively in sales and accounting.

Answer: True

For many years the "at sign" was used in the business/accounting world to mean "at a rate of". For example, "three pears @ one dollar apiece". Today the "at sign" is commonly used in computer addresses and simply means "at".
Source: Author dcpddc478

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
10/31/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us