Current annoyances

[slemslempike]

People putting punctuation inside quotation marks. I know it's the rule for North Americans, but it's wrong and people should be better.

Having to count how many "r"s different writers use for "grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl" (it's usually substantially fewer than that) because this easy-flowing, self-defining, reclaiming thing is ALL WELL AND GOOD, but I am all about consistency and standards and blanket rules that stifle all creative expression.

I'm HUNGRY and all my food is in my office.

Comments

[sinsense.livejournal.com]

But... but the comma and the period need to be hugged by the quotation marks! They had very sad and horrible childhoods, all right, they need lots of cuddling, preferably by quotation marks.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

Noooo, they are free, independent little markers! They need to jump free from the oppressive apron strings of the quotation marks and to start a life of their own.

[sabethea.livejournal.com]

Not when writing dialogue, though, surely?

"I was thinking about dinner," she said.

^ Is that wrong? Have I been offended all right-minded grammar pedants (because in my book, to be a grammar pedant is to be right-minded) or is* there different rules for story-ing?


ETA *ARE there <-hates on own grammatical mistake

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

That's reported speech though, not a quotation. I think that's different? I don't know the rules for fiction, only referencing. (And only the referencing system I use.)

[sollersuk.livejournal.com]

It is different. Direct speech in dialogue does have different rules, as the punctuation refers to the sentence inside the quotation marks, not to a sentence in which a quotation is embedded. And the same for parentheses (and this is something that does annoy me when people get it wrong).

[alltheleaves.livejournal.com]

Ah! Ok this is where I was confused because I interpreted your quotation marks as including dialogue. Right, am still going to request grammar lessons, but might be a little less stupid when I have them.

[sinsense.livejournal.com]

And be horribly murdered by some ax-wielding psychopath, no doubt! Your callous disregard for the safety of punctuation is chilling.

(Sadly, punctuation outside the quotation marks looks about as bad as punctuation outside the parentheses to me. Wait-- do You People do that too?)

[sollersuk.livejournal.com]

Definitely. In your example, question mark inside the parentheses because it refers to the sentence that starts "Wait". But I wouldn't have the two sentences as separate paragraphs, as if they were, the second wouldn't need parentheses; they'd be in the same paragraph and the full stop after "chilling" would come after the parentheses because the whole lot belongs together.

[sinsense.livejournal.com]

The parenthetical remark is not intended to be a comment on the chilling disregard for the safety of full stops and commas, though. It is meant to be a fully separate aside. Perhaps we have different writing styles.

Edit: Ah ha! I'm sorry, I was perplexed by your editorial commentary and didn't get what you were saying about parentheticals (I see what you mean, now, and yes, the systems are the same on that point).

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

It is this sort of nanny-state thinking that has lead to the disappearance of appropriate punctuation from public signs, leaving the way clear for the rogue apostrophe to do it's* worst!

If the sentence inside the parentheses is incomplete, then no (like this). But if the sentence inside the parentheses stands alone, then yes. (Like this one.) Is that not the same everywhere? If everyone would just do it My Way then there wouldn't be this confusion.

*IT'S DELIBERATE. I knew that you would get this, but I couldn't stand the thought of leaving it unnoted in case a random passer-by came and judged me.

[sinsense.livejournal.com]

Your asterisked footnote made me laugh and laugh, thank you.

Right, obviously. That is how we roll as well. I think that's what the above commenter was saying, and I didn't quite understand what they were trying to get across. Righto, then (but you should all do it My Way, obviously).