Punctuation within quotes

[Bradk3]

I hope this is the right place for this. It's not really a JREF-related question, but I figure there's got to be someone around here that knows the answer:

I have a simple question about punctuation marks and quotations.

I'm working with a document in which terms like true and false as well as numbers are placed in quotes but I'm not sure how punctuation rules would apply.

For instance, I know that (at least here in the states), the following sentence would be punctuated as follows:

The bit should be set to 'true.'

With the period inside the quotation marks.

However, what about this:

The bit should be set to '1.'

Again, the period is within the quote marks, but looks strange in this context.

Is this the correct way to punctuate this? Does it make a difference if I use single quotes as opposed to double?

 

[Bradk3]

Deleted, cause I'm a double-posting moron...

 

[Bradk3]

DANG!

Sorry about the double post - I just meant to edit my first post...

 

[Meffy]

When dealing with technical issues, where an exact bit of text must be denoted, I place quotation marks around the text itself without regard for conventional rules of English. When typing normal prose I place ending punctuation within the quotation marks, which is the correct form in written American English. IIRC, British English places the punctuation outside the close quote mark but you'll want to hear from an actual Brit to see if that's the current practice.

 

[sphenisc]

Personally I cant abide punctuation it should all be collected together and left at the end of a sentence,':.

 

[Bradk3]

When dealing with technical issues, where an exact bit of text must be denoted, I place quotation marks around the text itself without regard for conventional rules of English. When typing normal prose I place ending punctuation within the quotation marks, which is the correct form in written American English. IIRC, British English places the punctuation outside the close quote mark but you'll want to hear from an actual Brit to see if that's the current practice.

Thanks, Muffy!

By the way, I believe that is the very first post of yours that I've read that didn't make me laugh.

At all.

What's up with that?

 

[Piscivore]

It's unfunny skunk day.

 

[Bradk3]

Damn it! Is that TODAY?!

Gotta get me a day planner.

 

[ImaginalDisc]

Perhaps you could avoid confusion by using a non-quotation mark convention to denote what a person should type, such as bold, or italics?

 

[Bradk3]

I would agree, but the convention is already in place. This is a requirements document that is constantly updated as our software requirements change.

I suppose I've answered my own question, though, as the convention used in the document seems to be to place the period outside of the quotes.

I guess I was hoping there was a rule about this somewhere...

 

[ImaginalDisc]

I would agree, but the convention is already in place. This is a requirements document that is constantly updated as our software requirements change.

I suppose I've answered my own question, though, as the convention used in the document seems to be to place the period outside of the quotes.

I guess I was hoping there was a rule about this somewhere...

I think that with technical writting, clarity, non-sue-ability, and CYA-ability trump grammar.

 

[Meffy]

By the way, I believe that is the very first post of yours that I've read that didn't make me laugh.

At all.

What's up with that?

A rip-roaringly funny joke is concealed within the text. The whole thing's an anagram. Except one extra "q" that I had to add.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Is this the correct way to punctuate this? Does it make a difference if I use single quotes as opposed to double?

Grammatically, either way is acceptable--it is a matter of style. Personally, I prefer to only include punctuation within the quotes if the punctuation is part of the grammar of the text within the quotes. Quotes set off a word, phrase, or sentence as being separate from the context of the sentence.

For example: He said, "The fish is fresh." The sentence "The fish is fresh" needs a period at the end so it is in the quotes. The period acts as the end of both the quoted sentence and the whole sentence because putting an extra period at the very end would look a bit silly. But: Today's secret word is "missing". The quotes let us know that the secret word is the word "missing" and not that the secret word itself has gone missing. But "missing" is only a word and doesn’t require any punctuation itself. Therefore, we can put the period at the very end of the sentence where it should be because there isn't a punctuation mark within the quotes that would cause conflict with it or make it appear redundant. Not everyone agrees with me, so sometimes I have to put punctuation inside quotes all the time to fit a prescribed style.

For technical writing of the sort you mention, I would definitely not put the punctuation inside the quotes. For example: The variable should be set to ‘true.’ In the code you may get:

x = “true.”

when what you mean is

x = True

Those are very different things. For example: The password is set to ‘A-g,:f\~r.’ You might find people entering the password “A-g,:f\~r” only to find that the password was set to “A-g,:f\~r.” because someone was unable to determine from the requirements whether the period was meant to be part of the password or was acting as punctuation.

Whether you use double or single quotes doesn’t matter as long as they are using consistently. One should act as a set-off for values and the other as an indicator for strings.

For example: The variable is set to ‘12345’ would mean

x = 12345

but: The variable is set to “12345” would mean

x = “12345”

 

[Bradk3]

A rip-roaringly funny joke is concealed within the text. The whole thing's an anagram. Except one extra "q" that I had to add.

I knew you wouldn't let me down.

Ah- Hahahahaha! Oh, my sides! Oh! Great Joke! Haha!

"I got so excited, I fell off my perch."

Classic.

 

[Bradk3]

For technical writing of the sort you mention, I would definitely not put the punctuation inside the quotes.

Thank you - that makes complete and total sense!

 

[Cuddles]

When dealing with technical issues, where an exact bit of text must be denoted, I place quotation marks around the text itself without regard for conventional rules of English. When typing normal prose I place ending punctuation within the quotation marks, which is the correct form in written American English. IIRC, British English places the punctuation outside the close quote mark but you'll want to hear from an actual Brit to see if that's the current practice.

Yep, punctuation goes outside the quotes. Crazy Americans, when will you learn?

 

[Stir]

For example: He said, "The fish is fresh." The sentence "The fish is fresh" needs a period at the end so it is in the quotes. The period acts as the end of both the quoted sentence and the whole sentence because putting an extra period at the very end would look a bit silly. But: Today's secret word is "missing". The quotes let us know that the secret word is the word "missing" and not that the secret word itself has gone missing. But "missing" is only a word and doesn’t require any punctuation itself. Therefore, we can put the period at the very end of the sentence where it should be because there isn't a punctuation mark within the quotes that would cause conflict with it or make it appear redundant. Not everyone agrees with me, so sometimes I have to put punctuation inside quotes all the time to fit a prescribed style.

Absolutely correct, as for example:

Did you yell "Fire!"?

I follow DA's rule, but my editor constantly 'corrects' me by always putting all punctuation inside the quotes.

 

[Meffy]

Editors often must enforce company style guidelines. We who are free from this constraint may bend the rules. Somewhat. :-}

 

[Wudang]

This was discussed in
"From Fowler's Modern English Usage 2nd ed. "Questions of order between inverted commas and stops are much debated and a writer's preference often conflicts with the style rules of editors and publishers. There are two schools of thought, which might be called the conventional and the logical. The conventional prefers to put stops within the inverted commas, if it can be done without ambiguity, on the ground that this has a more pleasing appearance. The logical punctuates according to sense, and puts them outside except when they actually form part of the quotation."
He then goes on to say how question marks show the illogicality of the conventional system as the conventional then switches to the logical.

Did you say 'I am not my brother's keeper'?
I said 'Am I my brother's keeper?'
Did you say 'Am I my brother's keeper?'

 

[Meffy]

Reminds me of an example of why one ought to place a comma after every item in a list -- "John, Paul, George, and Ringo" rather than "John, Paul, George and Ringo." The example I remember (omitting the comma that really belongs before "and") is a charming little prayer for children:

"God bless my parents, Mother Teresa and the Pope."

=@.o=

[edit] I think the other example was something along the lines of:

"My favorite foods are pizza, chicken soup, roast beef and peanut butter sandwiches."