For a while now, I've been refusing to put trailing punctuation inside of quotation marks, unless the trailing punctuation is an integral part of the thought delineated by said quotation marks. That rule about keeping the punctuation inside quotations is stupid and blunt and I hate it. Right on, this article.
Professional writers, what do you think about this? Are there rules that YOU would break for the greater good of all humankind, if you weren't so terrified of being reprimanded for insubordination?
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8 comments:
I dont using grammar punctuations etc
The Queen still rules my country with an iron fist. There's no way we're going to get that progressive here.
In an attempt to make my posts less annoying and full of ranting goodness, I am shortening my initial 4 page reply to:
From how I understand it, what he's suggesting isn't correct grammar in the first place. Here's a reference from Webster's Third New International Dictionary:
13.5.1 ...a period or comma can be placed outside quotation marks when it belongs not in the quoted matter but to a larger unit containing the quoted matter. The package is labeled "Handle with Care".
13.5.5 A question mark or exclamation point is usually placed inside or outside the quotation marks according to whether it belongs to the quoted matter or to the whole sentence or clause that includes the quotation. Can you forget his angry exit after he shouted "Include me out"? "And what do you think of this new novel?" his friend asked.
I've been thoroughly beaten into submission by editors and the
AP Stylebook.
I am glad to see that I have already won, Fugu! Victory!!
Seriously, though, Fugu, to answer your comment (and all of the angrier comments you deleted) you are one hundred percent right. This post was poorly researched. Worse, I committed the Fifth Sin of Thinking, that of finding something that confirms my world view and holding it up as something special. Error mine!
Did I ever tell you about the guy who once forgot to close "air" quotes? THE REST OF HIS LIFE WAS MEANINGLESS.
Ahahah
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