because i know people are as sad as me...

[woodchip50]

i was wondering, in all seriousness whats your favorite punctuation mark?

mine is the semicolon
why?

because it is beautiful, and it makes my essays flow beautifully!!!

[Mr.Flibble]

I like the dots. They end things.

[Aladdin Sane]

I can't say I've ever actually asked myself this question before, but I've been told on many occasions that I use commas and parenthesis in my writing far more than is perhaps healthy...

[Nuclear Spoon]

The interrobang, the Swiss Army Knife of punctuation‽

[Jimmy]

[Square bracket!]

{Nipple bracket comes a close second.}

[Quintumply]

Probably the tilde, which is this one: ~. It is obscure and varies widely in its usage depending on the language and/or context. It is also a squiggly line.

Close second is probably the question mark. Not sure why really.

mine is the semicolon
why?

because it is beautiful, and it makes my essays flow beautifully!!!

I'm with you on that one!

[LeoZ]

the @ sign because it has a long and surprising history (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/@)

if that doesn't count as punctuation, i have to say I too am a fan of the semi colon.

[Darkscull]

I have a sort of love-hate relationship with the comma.

I use it far, far, far too much, because I write like I speak, and I pause a lot when I speak. I can't stop using it, and when I take out the ones that are probably unnecessary, it looks wrong.
I am a slave to the comma, and it oppresses me, but I could never leave it even given the chance.

[Quintumply]

I use the comma quite a lot in writing as well, but I don't pause as much as you suggest in speech. Looking at your post just now, I'd say your comma usage is fine. You're not using the comma too much, you're using it effectively, and there's a big difference between the two.

Back on topic, I'd just like to add the exclamation mark to the list of favourite punctuation points. Without the exclamation, no one would be able to exclaim, making speech rather sedate and boring.

Hurrah for punctuation! ...You see? With just a full stop, that would seem sarcastic.

[scram]

It's all about the ellipsis. It just leaves people wanting more...

[Midget]

what is punctuation

edit: seriously though

i quite like the therefore sign ∴

it was pretty useful when i did physics

[carbonwater]

I like this little wavy thing ~ .

Yet 'til this day, I have absolutely no idea what it's for.

[Sebas]

I like this little wavy thing ~ .

Yet 'til this day, I have absolutely no idea what it's for.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilde

[KARMAWHORE]

!!!!!!!! I use it way too much! See!

[albie_123]

You fools - mere amateurs in the art of English - all your feeble excuses for punctuation come crashing down - metaphorically, of course - in front of the hyphen.

[carbonwater]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilde

Everyone knows that everything on Wiki is lies and rubbish.

[Haroshi]

I like any upside down punctuation, such as ¡ or ¿

I never use them but they amuse me.

[feeshy]

Definately the ellipsis, it was so many uses.

Although I like the tilde for writing things like '~100', beause it's always handy to be able to take a guess at something and know it doesn't matter if it isn't exact, all because you used a tilde.

Not exactly along with the theme, but using ! (factorial) in maths is always entertaining... 7! It's like, seven!!!! Zomg!!! 7!

[gembird]

Interrobang, quite frankly.

[Troll]

i like the semi-colon, it's not quite as bold as a colon, but it's a lot more manly than a comma, and it makes the first line before preparing for lists;

fun
enjoyable
and pretty damn awesome

[Lawrence]

.

[sursmiley]

^
just because

[happy-go-lucky]

¬

it looks cool :D

[BlueIncaPilot]

# because it is way faster than writing 'number' all the time.

[nub]

‽

[nowhereman]

Asterisms ftw!
For when one asterix is just not enough :D

⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂

[Scribbly]

Sometimes - even in informal emails - I like to use the small hovering line to give an example of what I'm talking about.

[Shalashaska]

Full stop, because we'd be screwed without it.

But, no which punctuation I like the most? Capital letters at the start of sentences.

[Seriphyn]

C====8

THAT ONE LOLOLOLOLOL

Yeah, um, let's see. Probably !

[Zackron Goldago]

I am a slave to the comma, and it oppresses me, but I could never leave it even given the chance.

Substitute "the comma" for "love" and that's eerily reminiscent of some of my AS level proscribed Ovid poetry.

It's got to be the semi-colon for me; it's so well thought through: the full stop, comma and colon can all easily be converted into a semi-colon, if necessary, when re-reading a handwritten essay. Also, it bestows a certain feeling of smugness when used properly. The square bracket comes a close second.

[Cyanide_]

it's all about _

[Paradigm^]

I'm going to join the army of semicolon fans. But you have to be careful with the semicolon: it's too easily confused with the colon, comma, dash and full stop. The times you use it should be rare and treasured.

My girlfriend wrote an entire essay on punctuation use in English. As a result, I consider my punctuation quite carefully when I use it - it's all too easy to overuse the dash and the semicolon, which can mess up your writing to a pretty epic degree.

[tom93]

i like the semi-colon, but it's all about the apostrophe.
it's like magic.

[malcolio]

I prefer the ampersand: &. It's fun when I can come up for an excuse to use it & it's quite fun just to write it. :) Plus the word 'ampersand' sounds nice, although I think the interrrobang wins in the 'punctuation mark with the grooviest name' award. :D

[Blackened Sky]

I agree with the writig of the ampersand, I don't use it to much though.

I'm a personal fan of apostrophe ' and underscore _

Enjoyable question by the way.

[woodchip50]

*bump* - i was enjoying peoples responses!

[paris_below]

~ for me!

[cyber_turnip]

!

It just looks lovely and it works as a symbol whereas most marks don't.

I like the word 'ampersand' more than any other names of punctuation marks though.

[Niamhel]

!

I just love it :)