Does a question mark go after a rhetorical question?

Question

Does a question mark properly go after a rhetorical question?

For example:
- I did all I can; What else can I do.
- Who knew that global warming was a farce.
I tend NOT to put question marks (since they are not really questions that expect an answer) ... but technically, do they get the question mark?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Does a question mark properly go after a rhetorical question?[/nq]
I don't know.
[nq:1]For example: - I did all I can; What else can I do. - Who knew that global warming was ... marks (since they are not really questions tha=t expect an answer) ... but technically, do they get the question mark?[/nq]
I like your solution. Isn't it easier than putting a disclaimer at the end? (This was a rhetorical question.)
Regards,
John

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Does a question mark properly go after a rhetorical question? For example: - I did all I can; What else ... marks (since they are not really questions that expect an answer) ... but technically, do they get the question mark?[/nq]
I would say Yes. Doesn't look right without it.

(¯`·. ®óñ© © ²°¹° .·´¯)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Does a question mark properly go after a rhetorical question? For example: - I did all I can; What else ... marks (since they are not really questions that expect an answer) ... but technically, do they get the question mark?[/nq]
Yes; it's a solecism to leave it off.
The use isn't dictacted by whether or not an answer is expected; it's whether or not it's structurally a direct question, rather than a request ("Would all passengers please report to the check-in desk") or an indirect question (They asked if I had seen you").

Cheers, Harvey
CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]solecism[/nq]
So you think it's a solecism - a socially awkward or tactless act?

Disclaimer: I had to look up the word!

Usenet · Answer

(Email Removed) wrote Re Re: Does a question mark go after a rhetorical question?:
[nq:2]solecism[/nq]
[nq:1]So you think it's a solecism - a socially awkward or tactless act? Disclaimer: I had to look up the word!

[/nq]
Noun: solecism

1. A socially awkward or tactless act
2. An ungrammatical usage of words

(WordWeb.info)

Work is the curse of the drinking class.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]solecism[/nq]
[nq:1]So you think it's a solecism - a socially awkward or tactless act? Disclaimer: I had to look up the word!

[/nq]
I fink you'll find that's the secondary meaning; Collins's first definition is "The nonstandard use of a grammatical construction".

Ya' needs to use a bigger dikshunary, mate!

Cheers, Harvey
CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]whether or not it's structurally a direct question, rather than a request ("Would all passengers please report to the check-in desk")[/nq]
Would you explain how that request differs from a direct question?

"All passengers, please report to the check-in desk." That would be a request that's not a question it's an imperative (in form, despite the non-imperative choice of words).
¬R Blather, Rinse, Repeat.
http://users.bestweb.net/~notr/telecom.html

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]whether or not it's structurally a direct question, rather than a request ("Would all passengers please report to the check-in desk")[/nq]
[nq:1]Would you explain how that request differs from a direct question? "All passengers, please report to the check-in desk." That would be a request that's not a question it's an imperative (in form, despite the non-imperative choice of words).[/nq]
Poorly worded on my part; it's structurally a direct question, but since it's functioning as an imperative it doesn't take a question mark.

"Would all passengers please report immediately to the boarding gate" is clearly not asking a question in the same way that a rhetorical question is asking a question: although the latter doesn't expect a response, it's still a inquiry rather than a request.
(I'd be interested to know of any style book that advises leaving the mark off a rhetorical question, or adding it to a "Would passengers please..." sort of request.)

Cheers, Harvey
CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed

Usenet · Answer

In Elmo
(Email Removed) posted on Sat, 13 Mar
2010 19:24:50 +00 (UTC) the following:
[nq:2]solecism[/nq]
[nq:1]So you think it's a solecism - a socially awkward or tactless act? Disclaimer: I had to look up the word!

[/nq]
I did, too. And I'm glad I did. It's a word I can use when labeling many people on IRC.
"You call me a sophist, but I call you a solecist."

Damaeus

Usenet · Answer

"Elmo" (Email Removed) skrev i melding
[nq:1]Does a question mark properly go after a rhetorical question? For example: - I did all I can; What else ... marks (since they are not really questions that expect an answer) ... but technically, do they get the question mark?[/nq]
I believe that quite simply, whether or not something is a question is a matter of syntax; whether or not a question is rhetorical or not, is not a syntactical, i.e. not a grammatical issue, but, as the name says, a rhetorical one, or a pragmatic one, to use the modern linguistic term. This concerns the function, the use of the question as a rhetorical device, but does not touch on the form of any question as, grammatically, a question.

T

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