The rhetorical question mark or percontation point was invented by Henry Denham in the 1580s and was used at the end of a rhetorical question; however, its use died out in the 17th century. It was the reverse of an ordinary question mark, so that instead of the main opening pointing back into the sentence, it opened away from it. This character can be represented using the reversed question mark (βΈ®) found in Unicode as U+2E2E. The percontation point is analogous to the Irony mark, but these are very rarely seen.
Rhetorical questions in some (informal) situations can use a bracketed question mark, e.g. "Oh, really(?)", for example in 888 subtitles.
The question mark can also be used as a meta-sign to signal uncertainty regarding what precedes. It is usually put between brackets (?). The uncertainty may concern either a superficial (such as unsure spelling) or a deeper truth (real meaning) level.
Read more about this topic: Question Mark
Famous quotes containing the words question mark, rhetorical question, rhetorical, question and/or mark:
“A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point. That’s basic spelling that every woman ought to know.”
—Mistinguett (1874–1956)
“Art has always been this—pure interrogation, rhetorical question less the rhetoric—whatever else it may have been obliged by social reality to appear.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
“I come from a place that likes grandeur; it likes large gestures; it is not inhibited by flourish; it is a rhetorical society; it is a society of physical performance; it is a society of style.”
—Derek Walcott (b. 1930)
“There was never any question with me as to which I would choose, my boy or my work. I had to have both.”
—Rheta Childe Dorr (1866–1948)
“All mothers need instruction, nurturing, and an understanding mentor after the birth of a baby, but in this age of fast foods, fast tracks, and fast lanes, it doesn’t always happen. While we live in a society that provides recognition for just about every life event—from baptisms to bar mitzvahs, from wedding vows to funeral rites—the entry into parenting seems to be a solo flight, with nothing and no one to mark formally the new mom’s entry into motherhood.”
—Sally Placksin (20th century)