To the point — failed punctuation ideas

In a word: In 2007, both the snark mark (a period followed by a tilde: .~) and the sarcastrophe (which is really just a caret: ^) popped up. ^Yeah, that was a great idea.^ You were a big help.~

In a word: Punctuation that didn’t make its mark. Period.

The 1960s started off with an interrobang, a combination of a question mark and an exclamation point, which was the brainchild of advertising executive Martin K. Speckter.

I love parody, satire and sarcasm. Sorry.

In a Word: Different yet the same, they all play off reality — for laughs, revelation or pain.

The forecast: Weird weather words expected

In a Word: It wasn’t that long ago that I was suffering through the swullocking (hot, humid) dog days of summer (the period of July 3 through Aug. 11, so named for the dog star Sirius), hoping for some relief.

In a word: How to get your new word into the dictionary

Words within words within words

In a Word: Proving that word geeks know no limits, there’s the Russian nesting doll of kangaroo words: the grand kangaroo word.

In a word: Poppin’ Fresh, Larry and other favorite mascots

Attaching a face to a product is a successful marketing technique, whether the face is that of Cap'n Horatio Magellan Crunch, Uncle Ben or Mia the Land O'Lakes 'Butter Maiden.'

Errant apostrophes, extra spaces and Jeopardy masters have the power to peeve

Why, one guy online even wrote: “When my neighbor says, ‘my husband’s and I’s,’ I want to hit her in the mouth.” Easy now, they’re just words.

Did Neil Armstrong really use the ‘A’ word? Quotes and misquotes

In a Word: Lewiston word expert Jim Witherell has also always wondered about the time someone telephoned quotable baseball great Yogi Berra at 2 a.m.

In a word: A celebration of weird words that won’t leave you too wabbit

Relax under your bumbershoot for a spell before things go all cattywampus.