Discerning readers of nearly anything I write will notice that I have a pronounced preference for putting my punctuation outside of my quotation marks.
My logic in this is that though it is contrary to ordinary American practice, quotation marks should be treated the same way as parentheses. Thus, if the quotation marks enclose an entire sentence (such as in dialog) the punctuation, which belongs to the sentence, should be placed within the quotation marks. If, on the other hand, the quotation marks enclose only a part of the sentence, the marks themselves should be treated as part of the sentence, and the punctuation placed outside the marks.
You don’t care, do you?
I know. It’s pedantic. It is also British. If you would like to know more about this (although you’ve already read more than you ever cared to read) I commend to you the site maintained by Michael Quinion, who is British, and whose weekly newsletter is fascinating. He is an expert on all things English, and quite an entertaining chap to boot.
Here is an excerpt:
There is a case for consistency within any one publication. But nobody will misunderstand what you write because of where you choose to put your stops relative to quotation marks. A writer who fixes too much attention on the correctness of his punctuation, or a reader who does the same, is missing the point: the job of text is to communicate, not satisfy pedantic rule makers.
adrianna
Not being an English teacher, or even an English major, I yet find myself being a pedantic rule follower. As a result, I probably – sometimes (or often?) – miss the point of the communication. I like his point re consistency. Perhaps we can amend the familiar statement about England and the US being “divided by a common language” to “divided by grammar rules.” Eats, Shoots, and Leaves is a humorous treatment of grammar and punctuation. The author is British.adri
TulipGirl
Hunh. Hadn't seen this before. Hubby tends to favor your style. Punctuation outside of quotation marks drives me nuts. Ah, well. Always good to know when there is a method to madness.
Randy Greenwald
Yes, there is method. But there is madness, too. And, for me, a ton of inconsistency. Sigh.