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A semi comma is exactly like a question mark, but it has a comma under the question mark instead of a period. It is used in a sentence when the speaker or writer gets half-way through the sentence and forgets what they intended to say. This might happen, for example, when the speaker is high. Use of the punctuation mark permits simply abandoning the sentence half-way through without feeling the need to erase or delete already-written text. It's like I was telling my friend...

Thomas Jay Rush
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1 Answers1

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Superimpose a comma to a question mark, but I doubt that readers will understand the meaning.

\documentclass{article}

\newcommand{\semicomma}{%
  {\ooalign{?\cr\hidewidth,\hidewidth\cr}}%
}

\begin{document}

``Ops\semicomma''

\end{document}

enter image description here

egreg
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  • https://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/41?m=11808945#11808945 – David Carlisle Sep 26 '17 at 23:20
  • Thanks. That will do. By the way--a little-known fact--the trailing quote is misplaced. This is true in both Amerian and British English (surprisingly) and even in the case of the mark's use in a direct quotation. Weird, but true. – Thomas Jay Rush Sep 26 '17 at 23:50
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    Apart from the reader not understanding the meaning, such a change is too subtle and the reader will probably interpret it as an artefact of printing. – Henri Menke Sep 27 '17 at 02:03
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    I think that partial phrase\dots ? is more understandable. In Spanish you could try using ¿ partial phrase\dots without closing the interrogative phrase, which if read aloud gives the "right" intonation. – Rmano Sep 27 '17 at 08:16