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Victo Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

'Interrupting Colon'

Has anybody ever heard of the 'interrupting colon'? It usually comes after words like "as" or "is". I always thought that an independent clause should precede a colon, but I did find this example in 'The Handbook of Good English' by Edward Johnson:


The question was: Did he like zucchini?


Murphy's Law is: Whatever can go wrong, will.


Has anybody ever seen this usage before in writing? Is this acceptable punctuation?


Thanks.
  

Top answer

victo Has anybody ever seen this usage before in writing? Not in careful writing. victo Is this acceptable punctuation?

— RandomGuy

  • victo Has anybody ever seen this usage before in writing?
  • Not in careful writing.
  • victo Is this acceptable punctuation?
  • No.
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22 Answers
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victoHas anybody ever seen this usage before in writing?
Not in careful writing.
victoIs this acceptable punctuation?
No.
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victo.....I always thought that an independent clause should precede a colon, That's the traditional sensible rule.
but I did find this example in 'The Handbook of Good English' by Edward Johnson: In my opinion, the colon is very often wrongly used.
The question was: Did he like z
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Would a comma be okay in careful writing ... these work?

The question was, did he like zucchini?

Murphy's Law is, whatever can go wrong will go wrong.
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victoWould a comma be okay
That would be no better.
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What would be the suggested recast, then, without drastically altering the sentences — say, theoretically, this was a transcription?
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I don’t think recasting is necessary. I would write The question was "Did he like zucchini?" (as C45 suggested) and Murphy’s Law is "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong." Do those work for you?
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The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition, listed this sentence as an example:

The question on everyone’s mind was, how are we going to tell her?
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victoThe Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition, listed this sentence as an example. The end of a sentence requires a period, not a colon.
The question on everyone’s mind was, how are we going to tell her?
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LOL! I'll spare the expense, then, and'll learn it here.
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