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Goronsky Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Contradictory Punctuation
The Daily Mail (UK) uses this example:
'They may not know precisely but they know pretty accurately,' he said.
The following sentence was extracted from Write to the Point (1991) by William Stott.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Sygq5FiqgrgC&pg=PA183&dq=%22The+food+is+revolting%22+british+punctuation&hl=en&output=html_text&sa=X&ei=rx4bU9roE4WnqQHHhIGgAQ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA
'The food is revolting', said Tad.
Which is correct by today's standards?
Does the comma go inside as the Daily Mail does it, or outside as Write to the Point does it?
'They may not know precisely but they know pretty accurately,' he said.
The following sentence was extracted from Write to the Point (1991) by William Stott.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Sygq5FiqgrgC&pg=PA183&dq=%22The+food+is+revolting%22+british+punctuation&hl=en&output=html_text&sa=X&ei=rx4bU9roE4WnqQHHhIGgAQ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA
'The food is revolting', said Tad.
Which is correct by today's standards?
Does the comma go inside as the Daily Mail does it, or outside as Write to the Point does it?
Top answer
AmE goes outside, BrE goes inside. Edit. Sorry!
- AmE goes outside, BrE goes inside.
- Edit.
- Sorry!
- Thinking about the quotes !
- Other way around!
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13 Answers
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AmE goes outside, BrE goes inside.
Edit. Sorry! Thinking about the quotes! Other way around!
Edit. Sorry! Thinking about the quotes! Other way around!
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goronskyAvangi, do you have it reversed?Yes indeed! For some reason I tend to think about where the quotes go!
Gotta concentrate!
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The link I provided certainly explains the difference (in detail) between AmE and BrE punctuation regarding the application of quote marks and the correct placement of full stops and commas.
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goronskyWhich is correct by today's standards?Hi goronsky,
Did you feel that perhaps the reference was not up to date?
- A.
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Nineteen ninety-one (when this book came out) was a lifetime ago! I was a kid that year, doing the on-air radio-disc-jockey thingie. [I digress . . .]
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Now I'm unemployed. That's why I've popped up (here) like a pimple on prom night! [Yet, I further digress . . .]
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Never did the 'college thing'. Maybe I should attend a few classes. The 23-year-olds who are teaching English at my 14-year-old daughter's school need help! The periodic memos sent to the house are atrocious, laden with grammatical and punctuational (is that a word?) errors—and they're teaching English?!?!
goronsky, the King of Non Sequiturs
goronsky, the King of Non Sequiturs
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I'd love to write a book that encompasses (and more-than-adequately addresses) just the most thorny punctuation conundrums—one that is unique, and solely focuses on the punctuational dilemmas encountered by writers. I would call it Goronsky's Elixir to All Punctuational Conundra. The last word, 'Conundra', would catch the eye of would-be buyers as they ask themselves, 'Is that even a word?'
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