Point Of Order About Punctuation

[Liability]

Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks, even inside single quotes.


Examples:
1. The sign changed from "Walk," to "Don't Walk," to "Walk" again within 30 seconds.
2. She said, "Hurry up."
3. She said, "He said, 'Hurry up.'"

I agree with number 1 and number 2 I might concede, but surely number 3 is missing a final period?

Wrong. It is not "surely." The period is at the end of the sentence inside the quote. No OTHER end of sentence punctuation is needed. Indeed, two periods would be plainly silly.

..

 

[California Girl]

A panda bear walks into a bar and orders a sandwich. The waiter brings him the sandwich. The panda bear eats it, pulls out a pistol, kills the waiter, and gets up and starts to walk out.

The bartender yells for him to stop. The panda bear asks, "What do you want?" The bartender replies, "First you come in here, order food, kill my waiter, then try to go without paying for your food."

The panda bear turns around and says, "Hey! I'm a Panda. Look it up!" The bartender goes into the back room and looks up panda bear in the encyclopedia, which read: "Panda: a bear-like marsupial originating in Asian regions. Known largely for it's stark black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves."

'Eats Shoots and Leaves' is a great book about punctuation too.

 

[Samson]

A panda bear walks into a bar and orders a sandwich. The waiter brings him the sandwich. The panda bear eats it, pulls out a pistol, kills the waiter, and gets up and starts to walk out.

The bartender yells for him to stop. The panda bear asks, "What do you want?" The bartender replies, "First you come in here, order food, kill my waiter, then try to go without paying for your food."

The panda bear turns around and says, "Hey! I'm a Panda. Look it up!" The bartender goes into the back room and looks up panda bear in the encyclopedia, which read: "Panda: a bear-like marsupial originating in Asian regions. Known largely for it's stark black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves."

'Eats Shoots and Leaves' is a great book about punctuation too.

Commas, damn them.

 

[JBeukema]

Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks, even inside single quotes.


Examples:
1. The sign changed from "Walk," to "Don't Walk," to "Walk" again within 30 seconds.
2. She said, "Hurry up."
3. She said, "He said, 'Hurry up.'"

I agree with number 1 and number 2 I might concede, but surely number 3 is missing a final period?

Wrong. It is not "surely." The period is at the end of the sentence inside the quote. No OTHER end of sentence punctuation is needed. Indeed, two periods would be plainly silly.

..

And raise costs and labour for the printers...


I'm with liability on this one.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Point Of Order About Punctuation

Where does the period go?​

Wherever you put it, don't put it between the six and the nine!

What IS a 6.9 you ask?




A delicious afternoon delight simply ruined by a period!

 

[AVG-JOE]

Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks, even inside single quotes.


Examples:
1. The sign changed from "Walk," to "Don't Walk," to "Walk" again within 30 seconds.
2. She said, "Hurry up."
3. She said, "He said, 'Hurry up.'"

I agree with number 1 and number 2 I might concede, but surely number 3 is missing a final period?

What if you need something besides a period in the quoted sentence?

3. She said, "He said, 'That bear is a big 'un! Hurry up!!!! '".

 

[editec]

Where does the period go?​

If Kevin writes "I told Susie 'Take the trash out before I leave.'." and I quote him in full, how is that new sentence punctuated? I claim it is done like this:

"Kevin wrote [that he had] told Susie 'Take the trash out before I leave.'."

Now, if Kevin does not use quotes, his sentence becomes:

I told Susie to take the trash out before I leave.

And if I quote that sentence, I claim this is how it should be punctuated:

Kevin wrote "I told Susie to take the trash out before I leave.".

What I am aiming at with this Op is, where does the final period go? Inside the quote or outside?

Different editors debate this issue.

That's why there's many "elements of style". There's the British school, there's the Chicago school there's the Stunk and White approach, the NYT approach, etc.

I'd go with the period within the quotes if that sentence also ended the paragraph.

If another sentence followed, then I think I'd probably go with a comma at the and of the sentence within the quotes, followed by a period.

The key to effective written communication is really: DOES IT WORK?

There are no hard and fast rules, there are suggestions.

And over time, even those suggestions change.

 

[daveman]

I think your example amounts to:

NIVA Technical: Bill said, "I just got back".



NIVA Technical: Kevin wrote, "Bill said, 'I just got back' ".

Hip-hop: Sir Mix-a-Lot wrote, "Baby got back".

I cannot lie. You other brothers can't deny.