a) "stuff in quotes?"
b) "stuff in quotes"?

11/10/2008 2:07:10 PM

a)

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 2:08 PM. Reason : "Stuff goes in the quotation marks."]

11/10/2008 2:07:53 PM

i do b, but grammar is only a hobby of mine.

it's my understanding this rule came about due to something about printing presses, which makes sense b/c putting punctuation inside quotes when it is not relevant to the quote itself makes no sense at all.

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 2:10 PM. Reason : .]

11/10/2008 2:08:00 PM

depends if you're asking a question about the stuff in quotes or if the stuff in quotes is a question.

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 2:08 PM. Reason : i thought..]

11/10/2008 2:08:06 PM

a.

and ^

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 2:08 PM. Reason : .]

11/10/2008 2:08:21 PM

IT'S NUMBER A.

11/10/2008 2:08:31 PM

i see you consulted google first

11/10/2008 2:08:45 PM

when in doubt, put both quote marks at the beginning

""stuff in quotes?

11/10/2008 2:09:42 PM

Quote :

"depends if you're asking a question about the stuff in quotes or if the stuff in quotes is a question."

Yes. A or B could each be correct in different circumstances.

11/10/2008 2:09:45 PM

Quote :

"depends if you're asking a question about the stuff in quotes or if the stuff in quotes is a question."

it shouldn't matter that much

in either sense, the ? ends the statement

whether you're quoting the question mark or not

but if you need to be clear that you're the one asking the question, I guess you could go with B

the default is that any markings go inside

11/10/2008 2:11:04 PM

^^ a lot of people will tell you otherwise, which makes no sense.

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 2:11 PM. Reason : ^ see.]

11/10/2008 2:11:05 PM

Quote :

"i see you consulted google first"

are you speaking to me?

11/10/2008 2:11:40 PM

I am a copy editor.

Quote :

"the default is that any markings go inside"

Nope. Plenty do not. Think semicolons, etc.

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 2:13 PM. Reason : .]

11/10/2008 2:11:50 PM

but semicolons don't end a line of thought like periods and question marks do

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 2:14 PM. Reason : so I wasn't thinking along those lines anyhow]

11/10/2008 2:13:33 PM

Both, motherfucker.

A) She asked, "Why don't you come over?"

B) Do you "bwn"?

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 2:16 PM. Reason : ax]

11/10/2008 2:15:33 PM

b is becoming more widely accepted, mostly because of programmers quoting things need to be entered explicitly.

it just makes more sense though -- you attribute things to people in quotes that they didn't say. example:

Why did he say, "bitches is crazy?"

The person you are quoting didn't raise a question, so why include the question mark in the quotation? I'm all for grammar nazism, but if something is stupid, you should just do it the better way until grammar books are rewritten. Same thing with double negatives and ending sentences with prepositions.

11/10/2008 2:16:15 PM

AP Stylebook:

Quote :

"PLACEMENT WITH QUOTATION MARKS: Inside or outside, depending on the meaning. Who wrote "Gone with the Wind"? He asked, "How long will it take?""

That is the guide I have handy so that's what I picked.

11/10/2008 2:16:26 PM

You rang, "jacklame"?

JK.

11/10/2008 2:16:53 PM

Quote :

"I am a copy editor."

ha ha

i was the copy editor of my high school newspaper. shows how important high school activities are.

but this "punctuation inside quotation marks" thing has always fucked with me

^LOLOLOL JACKLAME

11/10/2008 2:19:32 PM

I edit national magazines

11/10/2008 2:20:24 PM

^^^ Oh snap! Webster's here!
You are sure to get a correct answer and a snarky comment to boot!

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 2:21 PM. Reason : .]

11/10/2008 2:20:51 PM

1. Periods and commas inside.

2. Colons and semicolons outside.

3. Question marks, exclamation points, and dashes inside or outside depending on whether they relate to the quoted material or the sentence as a whole.

Simple, right?

^ Already taken care of, my good man.

Quote :

"You rang, 'jacklame'?"

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 2:26 PM. Reason : .]

11/10/2008 2:22:14 PM

It's easy, Jackleg. Either the quote IS the question (A) or the quote is IN the question (B).

11/10/2008 2:22:35 PM

Quote :

"I edit national magazines "

i'm pretty sure being copy editor of the high school newspaper is a much bigger deal than what you do

Quote :

"It's easy, Jackleg. Either the quote IS the question (A) or the quote is IN the question (B)."

can you give an example of (A) and (B) please? i think i see what you're getting at, but i can't come up with sample sentences on my own. IM SO CONFUSED!!!1

11/10/2008 3:15:48 PM

Yeah, well I also edited for the NC State paper ... beat that!

11/10/2008 3:16:29 PM

both, dependent on situation

11/10/2008 3:18:19 PM

i just came in here to post

Quote :

"beat that! "

that's what she said

11/10/2008 3:18:57 PM

if you edited the Technician then how the hell did anyone hire you?

you probably told them you had nothing to do with it.

11/10/2008 3:19:29 PM

We teachers tell students A.
They cannot handle the truth.

11/10/2008 3:20:09 PM

Heh, I knew someone would say that. I made about as much difference as one person could, but when the whole system is wonky, that's not very much.

11/10/2008 3:20:32 PM

Quote :

"Yeah, well I also edited for the NC State paper ... beat that! "

i wasn't gonna engage you, but you asked for it.

sometimes people email me proposals and reports to read over before they submit them... to make sure they sound ok

yeah that's what i thought

11/10/2008 3:20:39 PM

yeah, i was always taught A in school

i just do it the A way all the time and nobody has said anything about it yet

11/10/2008 3:23:33 PM

^same

however, I think it would be better practice to put it where it belongs. part of the quote, then A. if not part of the quote, then B

but using B leads to double punctuation, which looks funny and can be confusing

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 3:25 PM. Reason : .]

\/ what about within a sentence and using a comma though?

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 3:25 PM. Reason : .]

11/10/2008 3:24:42 PM

haha

to be honest, i just make every effort to never end a sentence with "stuff in quotes."

11/10/2008 3:25:04 PM

^ probably one of the better ways to avoid it

11/10/2008 3:26:13 PM

Quote :

"but using B leads to double punctuation, which looks funny and can be confusing "

Sigh. No it doesn't.

11/10/2008 3:26:40 PM

ok wait wait


so its like:

the kid said, "can i go to the bathroom?"

and then

we're just friends!
yeah, sure! what were you doing in the back seat with your "friend"?

??

11/10/2008 3:27:19 PM

Ok, stop throwing the E-penis around.

English teacher. Editor. Right here.

99% of the time, it is going to be A. That is why we tell students that it is A.

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp

11/10/2008 3:27:41 PM

Yes.

I would cap the C.

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 3:28 PM. Reason : ^^ ]

11/10/2008 3:27:50 PM

well, i used to do the one that made sense, if i wasn't actually quoting a question, but was asking the question myself, i'd use B. then i had an english teacher who would mark it wrong no matter what unless you used A, so i just started using A exclusively and i don't really care if it's right or wrong. there are much more important things to worry about than cryptic grammar rules.

folks get the message either way.

11/10/2008 3:28:16 PM

Quote :

"Sigh. No it doesn't."

if you're not used to seeing it, it looks funny

11/10/2008 3:28:49 PM

Quote :

"I would cap the C. "

my bad. i never use caps on the internet!!1

11/10/2008 3:29:44 PM

Oh, by double punctuation did you mean ""?"? (how's that for punctuation?)

I thought you meant you'd need an extra period or something.

[Edited on November 10, 2008 at 3:30 PM. Reason : for the record, I am just being silly now]

11/10/2008 3:30:05 PM

if an engineer made this shit up it would be either:

The kid said, "Can I go to the bathroom?".

or

What were you doing with your "friend"?



those two ways make the most logical sense to me, but i realize the first is wrong.

11/10/2008 3:31:03 PM

and then you might have something like:

Did he just say "Can I go to the bathroom?"?

which looks really weird but makes logical sense.

11/10/2008 3:31:49 PM

^is what I was referring to

AND


OMFG DOUBLE POST

11/10/2008 3:34:39 PM

Ooooh. Then I rescind my sigh and offer my apologies.

11/10/2008 3:35:15 PM

WHY THANK YOU

11/10/2008 3:35:57 PM

my high school english teacher would say both are correct.

and Mrs. Hearn pwns all

11/10/2008 3:48:37 PM

Screw english teachers. Go with your logical programming instincts and treat them like curly brackets.

"Where is the beef?", John asked.
John asked, "Where is the beef?".
There's no such thing as "correct english". The rules change constantly.

11/10/2008 5:13:40 PM