Re: pet peeves from papers

[Beth Benoit]

Title: Re: pet peeves from papers

>> From a puzzled Brit: what happens with semi-colons? If, in the US, full
> stops [sic] go inside quotation marks in the above situation, then
> (logically?) so should semi-colons.

I can't think of a possible situation where a quotation would end with a semicolon...Remember this rule applies when something is quoted, and the sentence continues without the quote.

It helps to explain the oddness by remembering the phrase "regardless of logic."  (Notice placement of period!)  But don't worry about putting punctuation marks inside when the quotation is complete. It's those pesky situations where the rest of the sentence follows after the quotation.  Here are some examples that I hope will help:

"It's a girl!" she said.
"Is it a girl?" she asked.
"I think there's a girl at the door," he said.
I read "War and Peace."
Did you finish "War and Peace"?
"My goodness!  You finished 'War and Peace'?"

"Commas go inside the quotation," she explained.  "Periods too."  "What about the others?"  She had to think hard for "exceptions"!  Does it seem that she was "helpful"?

Beth Benoit
University System of New Hampshire



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