Is There Really A Difference Between '!?' And '?!'? A Fan Art Meme Explained

Imagine Solid Snake from the Metal Gear series in one of his famous Codec sections. Otacon says something that causes Snake some bewilderment, say, something about the Metal Gears.

In your head, do you hear Snake's voice differently if he says "Metal Gear?!" or "Metal Gear!?"

That's the question being explored by some recent fan artists, who have taken to illustrate the difference between "!?" and "?!", as apparently, the order of those two punctuation marks greatly changes the context of an expression.

Here's how the concept behind the "'?!' And '!?' Are Not the Same" idea began, what people are saying the difference is and how the topic became the subject of memes lately.

How Did The Idea That "?!" And "!?" Are Not The Same Start?

On August 4th, 2024, Twitter / X user @edtwtlurker9 uploaded a post asserting that "?!" and "!?" are "NOT" the same, which quickly racked up nearly 7 million views in a couple of weeks.

In fiction, the two sets of punctuation are generally used interchangeably to convey surprise and confusion. However, fan artists could see the vision behind edtwtlurker9's tweet and got to work as the concept became the source of memes and viral debate.

What Is The Difference Between "?!" And "!?"

According to artists and other memers, the order of the question mark and exclamation point signifies which emotion is felt more strongly.

When the question mark comes before the exclamation point ("?!"), the primary emotion is confusion, and that is more important than the alarm implied by the exclamation point. Thus, the opposite is true. When the exclamation point comes first ("!?)", the primary emotion is alarm before confusion.

Take, for example, this piece by MarisaKiri8218 of Marisa Kirisame from Touhou Project. In the first panel, representing "?!", Marisa appears more curious, as if she's just stumbled upon something exciting. In the second, representing "!?", she is clearly more alarmed, as if she's witnessing something that she shouldn't be seeing.

Of course, as with most fan art memes, the difference between ?! and !? is mostly an excuse for fans to showcase their favs in various poses. However, it does bring up a valid linguistics question if you're a nerd for that sort of thing (which we are).

Now, one wonders how to accurately draw "??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

For the full history of The Difference Between '!?' and '?!', be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.