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I recently queried this myself with my old editing instructor. This person is
always my absolute source as she's been editing for many years in many genres.
Anyway, she says if you have made the stylistic desicion to put your punctuation
inside the quotes then it is always inside the quotes, even for single words. If
you have decided to put punctuation outside the quotes, then it's always outside.
Miller, Lisa wrote:
> Is there an editor on board? I have a pet peeve, and I want to know if it is
> based in fact or opinion.
>
> I have often seen periods used outside of quotation marks as in the following
> example:
>
> The girl said "Arrrgh".
>
> This has appeared so often that I am now questioning my own understanding of
> puntuation rules which, as I recall, say that periods must be placed within the
> quotation marks at the end of a sentence as in this example:
>
> The girl said "Arrgh."
>
> Pondering the greater questions of life in St. Louis...
>
> Lisa Miller
> Technical Writer
> lisa -dot- miller -at- anheuser-busch -dot- com
>
> From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000==
