I’m trying to workshop an idea for a new punctuation mark.
I want it to serve as a shorthand form of social etiquette, a pre-excusing of an oncoming thought interjection that might otherwise be perceived as impulsive, improper, and/or off-putting.
The symbol means, in essence, “right, good, check, yes, excellent. Also, this seemingly unrelated thing!"
What follows this punctuation mark may be a brand new thought of debatable relevance, or a followup from a previous point in a previous conversation. But by prefacing the new thought with this punctuation mark, you at least flag the sudden deviation.
Here's my initial prototype for the mark:
And here are my renderings of other potential members of its new punctuation family:
Thoughts/feelings?
PS — I haven’t come up with a name for it yet!
Current favorite contenders:
- deviation point
- tangention mark
- champarrow (check mark, ampersand, arrow)
- fling
- yesand