Exclamation marks in the middle of a sentence

Question

Would this usage of exclamation mark be correct?

I want to — honest! — give you a slap!

Yes, I know, it's a quite bad example, but I wonder if this usage of an exclamation inside a sentence is correct. If not, is there any situation where an exclamation mark would be acceptable in a sentence?

I'll give you another example:

He said he ate a thousand (!) fishes.

Is this correct?

Answer 1

Exclamation points are generally for ending sentences. I think what you want to convey by putting an exclamation point in the middle of a sentence is emphasis, which is probably more appropriately done with italics, bold, or underline. However, I think both of your examples are acceptable for informal writing, and certainly understandable.

Answer 2

Yes - both examples are common. This is characteristic of informal use, and often seen in works of fiction.

Answer 3

I disagree with the other comments. An exclamation mark is a modified full stop (or period). As such it marks the end of a sentence and cannot appear in the middle of a sentence. In the example given, if you remove the exclamation mark then the word honest does not lose its intensity and the mark is clearly not needed.

Try to keep this in mind: an exclamation mark indicates a verb that is in the imperative, that is an order or exclamation. Shut up! Stop! The mark applies to the verb - it cannot be used to apply emphasis to adjectives or adverbs in that sentence (such as the word honest)