Fowler tackles this in the "Stops" section. He mentions two schools of thought, which he calls the conventional and the logical, with the latter punctuating according to sense, i.e. putting the stops outside the inverted commas except when they actually form part of the quotation.
The former appears to be more common in the USA and the latter in the UK, although neither has ever been completely uniform in either place. I was taught to punctuate according to sense during my education in UK schools, during my Degree in English, during my training as an English teacher and throughout my career as a teacher in the UK ... so it has probably been completely superseded by whatever haphazard punctuation (or lack of it) happens to be current on this week's most fashionable chat-site. :-( Alec McAllister Leeds, UK > -----Original Message----- > From: Mike Scott [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: 25 May 2012 08:34 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Is there a way to do this... > > On 24/05/12 23:17, Doug wrote: > > On 05/24/2012 05:04 PM, Johnny Rosenberg wrote: > > > > /snip/ > >> I find it odd to have a comma inside a quote, but that's maybe > >> another story. > > > > It is standard American usage to put a comma inside, rather than > > outside, a close quote. This differs from British usage. > > ?? I don't think so. > > He said, "hello." "Goodbye," she replied. > > is precisely the usage I was taught many years ago in my "English English" > education. I'll see what Partridge and Fowler have to say if I can find them > :-) > > > > -- > Mike Scott > Harlow, Essex, England > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
