Re: Using Punctuation in and out of Quotes

[Susan W. Gallagher <sgallagher5 -at- cox -dot- net>]

Justin,

My preference is "British" style as opposed to "American"
style for technical writing (and writing in general) as I
believe it to be less ambiguous. The 14th Ed. of Chicago
Manual of Style pretty much agreed and voiced a preference
for the "British" style. Chicago 15 backpeddled on the issue,
but still admits that "British" style may be preferable 
when writing technical material, saying in part, "In computer
related writing, in which a file name or other character
string enclosed in quotation marks might be rendered inaccurate or amgibuous by the addition of punctuation within
the quotation marks, the alternative system may be used."

Then they caution that this system requires the author to
make a rational decision.  Maybe that's why they backed off.
<g>

Someone on this list called me conservative a short while
ago. (Big surprise to me! <g>) Well, on this issue, I'm 
definitely a radical. To maintain consistency and avoid 
ambiguity, I use "British" style exclusively.

Something that (apparently) only I noticed or find amusing...
In the book _The_Story_of_English_, the authors state half
way through the book that the major influence on the English
language shifts from UK to US, so they'll shift from UK
conventions to US conventions. They change the spelling, but
continue using "British" punctuation in quotes throughout.
(ok, so it's not a side-splitter, but still... )   ;-)
> 
> From: Justin Ressler <JRessler -at- ewa-denver -dot- com>

> 
>... Brief research indicates that there is a difference between American 
> usage and other countries (primarily British controlled territories) of 
> punctuation inside of quotation marks. It is something that I have 
> concerns over in my own writing, not just technical writing. Is there a 
> more widely way of doing this, or is the preferred method your own as 
> long as you are consistent?
> 
> I am more apt to follow logic than silly conventions...



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ROBOHELP X5: Featuring Word 2003 support, Content Management, Multi-Author
support, PDF and XML support and much more!
TRY IT TODAY at http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrl

WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT: New! Document review system for Word and FrameMaker
authors. Automatic browser-based drafts with unlimited reviewers. Full
online discussions -- no Web server needed! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l 

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.