Grammar and Punctuation Civil Disobedience 2

[KornGeek]

(Forgive my rambling. It's getting late, but I thought this might be fun.)

Are there any grammar or punctuation (or even spelling) rules that you know, but choose not to follow?

For me, a big one is the rule regarding punctuation and quotation marks at the end of a sentence. The rule states that the punctuation should go inside the quotation marks, but I usually put it outside.

The way I decide where the punctuation goes has to do with whether it was part of what I was quoting or not. For instance I will punctuate as follows:

She told me to "Use punctuation the right way."
and
She told me to use punctuation "the right way".

In the first instance, I'm quoting a sentence, so I include the punctuation. In the second instance, I'm quoting a fragment, so I put the punctuation outside the quotes.

Even though I've always been taught that the punctuation should go inside the quotes, I feel that it makes your intentions more clear doing it my way.

What rules do you deliberately disobey?

 

[tsdragon]

I agree entirely with your usage of punctuation and quotes, and I do it precisely the same way, for the same reasons!

Aside from that, I probably misuse hyphenated clauses, and I almost never use a semicolon.

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[sleipnir214]

I hate to break this to you two hard-riding hellions, but what you describe is sometimes called "logical punctuation" and is apparently fairly common outside the U.S.:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=426873

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions! TANSTAAFL!

 

[tsdragon]

Logical punctuation" is a good term for it, since I do it that way because it seems more logical. I had no idea it was common outside the US, I just do it because to me it makes the sentence clearer.

Here's an example similar to something I typed in not long after my previous post here:

Why do you think they call it "logical punctuation"?

To me it would look really stupid if the question mark was inside the closing quote.

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[tsdragon]

I forgot to mention, I'm very glad to see that logic in punctuation is becoming popular, at least outside the US. Now if we can just get them to use it here...

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> Now if we can just get them to use it here...
It is far more common in the USA now because the reason for putting the punctuation inside the quotation marks no longer exists. The "rule" is not based in grammar, but rather, comes from the printing industry to protect the '.' letter block. Because of its small size, the period block was more fragile than most and they would often break. The act of placing it inside a quote block would provide additional protection and they would last longer.

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[MeGustaXL]

The act of placing it inside a quote block would provide additional protection and they would last longer.

Makes perfect sense to me CC, but how in the world did you find out that bit of printing trivia?

Chris

If yer see a Rook on 'is own, im's a Crow. If yer sees a flock o' Crows, them's Rooks - My Uncle Cecil

 

[Welshbird]

[ducks]
If you 'Merkins' would just learn 'English' it would all be so much simpler!
[/ducks]

Fee

The question should be [red]Is it worth trying to do?[/red] not [blue] Can it be done?[/blue]

 

[rjoubert]

I totally agree with you on using the punctuation outside the quotes. I do the same thing. It would especially seem odd when you're posing a question...

Did you hear her tell me "Use punctuation the right way"?

VS.

Did you hear her tell me "Use punctuation the right way?"

Putting the question mark inside the quotation mark just seems wrong to me.

Another thing I tend to do...not sure if it's a rule or not...is to overuse the ellipsis. It seems like a convenient way to string together fragmented thoughts...I use it a lot in emails and TT posts.

 

[TheRambler]

... how in the world did you find out that bit of printing trivia?

I don't know about CC, but the first time I read it was in thread1256-823418 (Different inverted commas).
See Stella's post from 29 Apr 04 14:19.

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> Makes perfect sense to me CC, but how in the world did you find out that bit of printing trivia?

I read the posts in Making an Impression.


--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[MeGustaXL]

I read the posts in Making an Impression.

Har-De-Har-Har CC!


Chris

If yer see a Rook on 'is own, im's a Crow. If yer sees a flock o' Crows, them's Rooks - My Uncle Cecil

 

[CajunCenturion]

Learning new things from this incredibly tremendous resource (all of Tek-Tips) is easy. Remembering what you've learned is the hard part.

--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

But if it's a quoted question within a question, shouldn't it be;

Did you hear her ask me, "Do you know how to use punctuation the right way?"?

[Cheers]

 

[SantaMufasa]

If you 'Merkins' would just learn 'English' it would all be so much simpler!

I can't believe that you called anyone a 'Merkin'


<to the rest of us>
If you don't know what a 'Merkin' is, then you'd better find out before using it in a sentence.
</to the rest of us>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[Welshbird]

Hee. I wondered who would 'rise to the bait'!

Fanks Santa.

Ok, I was just using the phonetic spelling of American - honest....

Fee

The question should be [red]Is it worth trying to do?[/red] not [blue] Can it be done?[/blue]

 

[MeGustaXL]

If you say " A Merkin" out loud, you actually sound like a Merkin!



Sorry again.

Chris

If yer see a Rook on 'is own, im's a Crow. If yer sees a flock o' Crows, them's Rooks - My Uncle Cecil

 

[SantaMufasa]

If you say " A Merkin" out loud, you actually sound like a Merkin!

I've never known a merkin to make any sounds...I believe that any sounds one might hear usually emanate from the person wearing the merkin (or the wearer's partner).

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[Welshbird]

( I wonder if we have the same understanding of the word - I'm using the old-english meaning....)

Fee

The question should be [red]Is it worth trying to do?[/red] not [blue] Can it be done?[/blue]

 

[SantaMufasa]

I thought we were talking of the Old English meaning, as well...Are you not talking about a type of "toupee"?

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]