Hello! How are you! I am well! Glad to hear it! Thank you!

It's said, rumored, to be honest, that the exclamation point — AKA the admiration mark — was invented sometime around the end of the 14th century by Italian poet Iacopo Alpoleio da Urbisaglia. Maybe he had a good idea, but today they are like weeds, starving our sentences of the sun and nutrients they need to become big and strong enough to mean something.

They are not alone. All around us, in today's world, human-centered companies drive actionable results for stakeholders, literally leading change via value-added, paradigm-shifting, action-oriented, mission-critical deliverables.

All this lazy filler really puts a hurting on my spidey sense. But exclamation points are worse because they are more difficult to ignore, or excise, than cliches. When they're flung my way, I feel compelled to send them back. Otherwise I'm at risk of seeming dour, unfriendly, unenthusiastic, lackluster, disinterested. Answering an enthusiastic "Thank you!" with a bare-naked "You're welcome" may make people think I'm not smiling when I'm writing them, which I, to be honest, may not be.

One of the all-time great books on writing, The Elements of Style, advises: “Do not attempt to emphasize simple statements by using a mark of exclamation … The exclamation mark is to be reserved for use after true exclamations or commands.” I say, "RIght on!"

To F. Scott Fitzgerald, using an exclamation mark was like "laughing at your own joke." German philosopher Theodor Adorno called them “a desperate written gesture that yearns in vain to transcend language.” But the world changes. So does language. Linguist Gretchen McCullough said, “If I end an email with ‘Thanks!’ I’m not shouting or being particularly enthusiastic; I’m just trying to convey that I’m sincerely thankful, and I’m saying it with a bit of a social smile.” A bit of a social smile. Ok, I get that. Smiles are something this world needs. I'll try!