Here i will share my journey of hopefully one day recognising my dream of becoming published writing what i love to read; Romance!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Punctuation - a question?!

A friend and i have been having a friendly debate about correct usage of punctuation.
Where to place the full stop in the quotation marks to be specific. She found an interesting article.

Check out this link :http://www.nzwriterscollege.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=244&Itemid=34

What do you think?
Personally, i use the US English way as this is what i was taught it look right and feels natural. I'm currently editing my friend's work and she is using the British way, so it is interesting trying to curb my inclination to change it!!

10 comments:

  1. *hehehe* evil isn't it *grin* Well wait and see, I'll probably have to change them all... but not without my arm being twisted ;p

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOL Kerrin :) You would have had the same problem with my work if you had critiqued it !

    One of my fab CP's pointed this out and the "understanding" person I am, I agreed to use the US style, which btw, is much simpler than the British style (which is what I learnt). Another reason was that I had kept my grammar to US style while typing, hence I could immediately remove the additional "u" that occurs in most words in British English(like colour, honour, neighbour and so on)

    Thank goodness for auto grammar check, which kind of helps me out ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. O lords, i don't need that :-) lol

    I have troubles enough with getting in right myself. I didn't even notice any differences. It's not like i don't read a lot either.

    our library is currently a separate "item" on our insurance. We actually had to "proove" to the insurance company that we were correct...lol

    i guess as long as you are consistent and follow one method only half the people will be annoyed :-)

    Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes Constance i think that's it, as long as you are consistent!

    Ju that's funny how you were so easily pursuaded! It still grates me to see words without the U when it should! LOL!

    Nicole, don't change it if you are convinced on the way you want to go!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ha Kerrin :-)

    Try doing a degree with medical terminology it drives me NUTS. Then they go and call paracetamol acetaminophen and change the word for Adrenalin and it all goes topsy-turvey

    Sarah :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi,

    Interesting! So here's something else to think on . . .

    The Oxford Engish Dictionary dictates outer full stop used only for quotations: as in quoting another's speech:

    What she actually said was "Hey Johnny, you shouldn't be doing that".

    Correct: full stop is on the outer!

    The same goes for straight quote US English and UK English:

    "She made a direct reference to the flowers in the bouquet".

    When put in direct dialogue:

    "Hey Johnny,you shouldn't be doing that."

    It is on the inner for both English UK/US English. It has never been otherwise.

    There is a difference between quoting and that of direct dialogue in both UK/US English!!

    Also, American publishers prefer double quotation as normal dialogue differential ["] as opposed to UK pubs who go for single [']

    In US English publishers prefer:

    "She said it was a dark and foul wet night and she definitely heard 'Help me, help me, please help me' yet could find nobody out there."

    I've often been picked up on by unpublished writers with regards using a single quotation for defining singular/plural and for incorrect usage of punctuation in respect of names.

    It was Charles' turn to bat.
    It was Charles's turn to bat.
    Both are correct:
    Read both aloud and see which rolls off the tongue smoothly.

    I'm going now before I put you all into a severe state of confusion!

    best
    F

    ReplyDelete
  7. Depending on the audience, but even though past Victorians did a good job of blanketing English across the globe, locals modified it too much to call it standard. Same with Spanish. My wife is from Puerto Rico and there are significant differences in the Spanish spoken on her island then from the Spanish spoken on Cuba. Also, a co-worker of mine is Jamaican. Again, an English speaking nation, but try to venture out into the country side, sit at a table and try to understand a group of Jamaican natives speaking at the table next to yours.

    I may be wrong, but I do not think it would prevent acceptance of a MS by a publisher since they will standardize to their audience anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  8. erm...think i'll be sticking to how i do it thanks! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Haha! Got to love punctuation!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm okay (I think) with punctuation as long as I don't think about it. Once I start to think about it, I'm lost.

    XX

    ReplyDelete