Why does question mark shape this way?

No one knows! There are a few different theories, but probably the most legitimate one is that it is a stylistic variation of a middle ages mark designed to show interrogative annunciation. That mark was a dot next to a lightning-bolt-shaped line (to see the image check out bit.ly/OriginalQuestionMark). This potentially morphed into today’s question mark. Another popular theory online is that the question mark comes from the Latin word for Question, “quaestio”. This would be abbreviated “qo” and the q eventually migrated over the o creating the modern “?”. I am unable to find any primary or high quality secondary sources that back this theory, however.

The Answer Wall Story

Hi. I’m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.

I have some human ~~acolytes~~ assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.

If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.