The Origin of the Exclamation Point
Origin of the Exclamation Point (!):
Like the question mark, the exclamation point was invented by stacking letters. The mark comes from the Latin word io, meaning “exclamation of joy.” Written vertically, with the i above the o, it forms the exclamation point we use today.
In computer programming, the symbol of often referred to as "not", representing the negative of a boolean expression. For example:
if (!(x==5)) then...
it can also be paired with the equal sign:
if (x!=5) then...
