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DIGEST Barbara Diorio (an unusual name, but that's how it
appears in the header) wondered <<When a sentence ends with
a word in quotation marks, do you put the punctuation
(period or comma - we agree on the other punctuation
marks) inside the quotation marks or outside the
quotation marks?>>
Both are correct, since American style _tends_ to put the
punctuation inside the quotes, and British style _tends_ to
put it outside the quotes unless it is logically part of
the quote (hence the synonym "logical punctuation").
Logical punctuation may appear inconsistent to those who
don't understand its purpose, but it's essential in several
fields such as legal writing (where the position of
punctuation can dramatically change the interpretetation)
and computer writing (where including the punctuation
inside the quotes will mislead many readers into typing the
punctuation).
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
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