Aspara Gus

Question

1) What style manual do you like the best (or is it 'most')?
2) Have you ever used The Gregg Reference Manual? If so, do you think it's good?
3) Living in this country, do you prefer AmE or BrE punctuation?

RandomGuy · Accepted Answer

1. Actually, I have never opened a style manual in my life. (Both are fine. I’d say best is more casual.)
2. I’ve never heard of it. However, I have heard that The Chicago Manual of Style is good.
3. I prefer AmE punctuation in that I use single quotation marks only for quotations within quotations, and I use periods in abbreviations like Mr. and etc. I deviate from AmE practice in that I use my own judgment when deciding whether to place a period or a comma inside or outside quotation marks, rather than always putting it inside. I’m not aware of all of the conventions of BrE punctuation, so I can’t say much more unless you give me some examples.

Victo · Answer

Aspara Gus, how would you handle this one?

When Joe said, “The way to a man's heart is through his stomach”, all his friends agreed.
(My preference is to insert the comma outside the ending quote mark [as exampled above] because the comma is technically not part of that quoted sentence. Do you concur?)

"I am not going to the movies", Mike added.
(Same logic as above – comma outside as exampled. You agree? The comma is not technically part of that quote so, logically, it should go outside.)

Also:

When Amy screamed, “I want you out of my house!” her husband refused to leave.
(I say no comma after !” at the end.)

And I think the same would apply to a question mark:

When Megan asked, "Where's Dan?" nobody seemed to know. (No comma – as exampled above – after ?")

You agree with me regarding the punctuation in all three sentences?

RandomGuy · Answer

victoYou agree with me regarding the punctuation in all four sentences?

Completely.

Aspara Gus

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