Post History
are there cases where it would be frowned upon using something like that? Not that I'm aware of. If you are talking directly to your reader, there is a big chance you are already using a co...
Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31302 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31302 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
> are there cases where it would be frowned upon using something like that? Not that I'm aware of. If you are talking directly to your reader, there is a big chance you are already using a colloquial tone. "Boy, was I wrong!" isn't much more informal than "Boy, was I wrong."; there is barely a difference. > Should I prefer using an exclamation point in every case, or try to reformulate the statement? It's up to you to decide the style. I wouldn't use them in a formal or scientific article, but otherwise they are fine. If you feel that exclamations are a good fit to get your point across, you probably should use them. **Personally** I'd rather avoid them, but it's a matter of taste. There may be cases where you may want your reader to read the sentence with an higher tone, but on a more general basis I'd use italics to emphasize the test. So, "_Boy, was I wrong._" works for me more than "Boy, was I wrong!" and doesn't risk seeming too childish while staying colloquial. But then again, this is just me.