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Donald Trump loved exclamation points in 2016 almost as much as he loves himself (!!!)

Trump's favorite Twitter crutch punctuates 2016.

Marcus Gilmer

on December 22, 2016

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Even though he's under a month from taking the oath of office, it's highly unlikely Donald Trump is going to be ditching his Twitter account any time soon, which means we're going to see a lot more of his Twitter tics, including the one he abuses the most: the exclamation point.

We already know that there are a lot of things that make Trump "sad!" and that he thinks a lot of things are "bad" or "terrible." And we have multiple archives to tell us who he's insulted. But Trump's exclamation point abuse is like your aunt who uses Comic Sans in her emails.

According to the Trump Twitter Archive, Trump has posted 2,251 tweets using an exclamation point in 2016 alone. Of the 355 days from Jan. 1, 2016 through Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016, there have been only 12 days on which Trump has not used an exclamation point in a tweet. Sad!

Neither the folks behind the Associated Press Stylebook or the Chicago Manual of Style would comment on the matter but they do have established rules about the use of the exclamation point, rules that Trump is more than happy to ignore.

The Associated Press Stylebook strongly discourages its use -- unless it's really needed.

And the Chicago Manual of Style says the exclamation point "should be used sparingly to be effective."

While Trump often expresses incredulity about anything and everything other than his own intellect and has been known for his strong emotions, his frequent use of the "!" blows past the concept of "sparingly" and loses all effectiveness it would otherwise have.

Here are some particularly interesting uses of the "!" in Trump's 2016 tweet archive.

Ah, yes, the infamous "sad!" peg, which Trump used 22 times per the Trump Twitter Archive. Newsweek rounded up all the things Trump thought was "sad!" in 2016 if you want a refresher.

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He also got very (too?) excited about deaths in 2016. Death!

Trump often used "Enjoy!" whenever he was promoting an appearance on television which is kind of like a chef saying, "Enjoy!" each time he served you a plate of cold dog vomit.

For a man who built his career as a real estate magnate and a reality TV show figure, that he would use the game show host-style "stay tuned!" to keep Americans in suspense about his pick for Secretary of State -- which of course he treats like a beauty pageant -- is alarming even as it's hardly surprising.

I'm not sure what "FIX!" means here, exactly. Fixing the "made-up charges"? The "minds of the American Voter?" Sometimes it feels as if Trump is treating Twitter they way an angry person would yell at their dog. NO! BAD!

Trump has this thing of pinning the exclamation point to the end of these one-word, often all-caps sentences. See also: "RIGGED!" "WIN!" "END!" and "Apologize!"

This is one that could have been used a hundred different times throughout the campaign.

Is he being ironic here, bragging about how he calls Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" because of allegations her claims of being Native American are false while using the exclamation point to call Warren racist?

Don't think Warren was the only person to get an emphatic insult from Trump this year, though. Plenty of "losers" to go around, according to Trump.

A rare TRIPLE exclamation point means business.

Whoa, a QUINTUPLE exclamation point. Is that the Trump equivalent of DEFCON 1?

I can imagine Trump tweeting this, envisioning himself as Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Braveheart, rallying his supporters and Twitter eggs to unleash hell on the country.

But, lest we ever doubt it, Trump is always very thankful, whether to a diner, a single state, or the whole nation.

Topics Social Media X/Twitter Donald Trump

Marcus Gilmer

Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.