“It’s nonsensical,” my late father-in-law would say. “If the period or the comma is not part of what is being quoted, it shouldn’t be contained within the quotation marks.”
Poppy, as he was known to his family, was a man for whom I had the utmost respect and highest regard, but we didn’t always see eye to eye on everything. Politically, for example, he was a very conservative Republican. I am not. And when it came to rules of punctuation, I am a stickler. He was not.
Countless debates, both verbal and via e-mail exchanges, ensued between the two of us about one particular American English punctuation rule, which states unequivocally that commas and periods must always be placed inside the end quotation marks, even if they are not part of what is being quoted.
“That’s not logical,” he would say. Admittedly, the punctuation rule regarding where periods and commas are placed in American English is different than in British English. As one grammar site noted, “In the United States, periods and commas go inside quotation marks regardless of logic. In the United Kingdom, Canada, and islands under the influence of British education, punctuation around quotation marks is more apt to follow logic.”
“Logical or not,” I would respond, “that’s the rule.” I would refer Poppy to tons of references...overwhelming evidence...to support my argument. And I reminded him that America won its independence from Britain over 200 years ago! “We are Americans,” I would say, “and, as such, we should abide by American rules of grammar and punctuation.”
A retired lawyer, Poppy stubbornly ignored the mounds of evidence and continued, in his writings, to always place periods and commas outside of the end quotation marks. I am convinced that he did that not so much because of his conviction that it was more logical to do it that way, but because he knew how much it vexed me.
The other day, on the Daily Writing Tips website, there was a posting that referenced a recently published column by Ben Yogoda in Slate. The author, a college professor, contends that the American style of having periods and commas within the quotation marks is inconsistent. “When it comes to other punctuation marks—semicolons, colons, exclamation points, question marks, dashes—we follow British/logical protocol,” Yogoda wrote.
This “Logical Punctuation” movement seems to be gaining some level of grassroots acceptance in this country. This is not surprising to me, given the proliferation of e-mails, chats, blogs, tweets, and Facebook updates and the informality used in those forms of written communications.
Seriously, would someone who writes, “Wassup? How R U doing?” or who responds, “I am gr8, U?” give a shit about the proper positioning of periods and commas relative to quotation marks?
Even Wikipedia, the “free encyclopedia that anyone can edit,” has embraced logical punctuation. According to Yogoda, Wikipedia’s style guide notes that “logical punctuation … is used here because it is deemed by Wikipedia consensus to be more in keeping with the principle of minimal change.” Yogoda explains that this “principle of minimal change” means that if you put a period or comma inside quotation marks, you are wrongly suggesting that the period or comma is part of the quoted material, and thus you have “changed” it.
In a Daily Writing Tips post, “Logical Punctuation Isn’t the Logical Choice,” Mark Nichols appropriately laments this punctuation shift. “The hoi polloi, it seems, can’t seem to get this convention straight, or can’t be bothered about it.”
Well, being the stickler that I am, I am bothered by it. Hey, it’s not that difficult. Put the goddam period or comma WITHIN the friggin’ end quotations marks.
“Let’s eat Daddy” or “Let’s eat, Daddy”
I remember being in a Borders bookstore a number of years ago and seeing a book by Lynne Truss called “Eats, Shoots & Leaves.” I was intrigued by its subtitle, “The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.” At last, a book that might resonate with a stickler like me.
I sat down and started reading the book, impressed by the engaging, witty, but informative way the author discussed the abomination of using apostrophes in plurals (as in “people often misuse apostrophe’s”), misplaced or missing commas (as in the book’s title, which suggests sociopathic behavior after a meal), and other punctuation faux pas. These things drove her “absolutely batty,” as it does me.
Truss is British and her book was a runaway bestseller in Britain. Unfortunately, when the American edition was published, there was no editing for American rules of grammar and punctuation. I was appalled to be reading a book touting the beauty of proper punctuation that was chock full of periods and commas falling outside of the quotation marks. Angered and frustrated, I tossed the book back on the table and left Borders in a huff.
The book turned out to be a bestseller in this country as well, thus reinforcing to those who have little or no regard for the rules of grammar and punctuation that, when writing with quotations, they can put their end punctuation any-damn-where they want. After all, if it’s good enough for a bestselling book by a self-proclaimed stickler....
Yes, I may be rigid in my thinking when it comes to grammar and punctuation. Or maybe I’ve just turned into an old curmudgeon for taking issue with people who write...even informally...and don’t even attempt to or bother with using proper punctuation.
Still, as I think back on my many conversations on this topic with Poppy, I have no doubt that he would have been delighted with Yogoda’s position and this grassroots movement toward Logical Punctuation.
He no doubt would have sent me an e-mail with the Slate article attached. “You see,” he would have gloated, “The American rule about where to place periods and commas with respect to quotation marks is simply not logical. And I’m not the only one who thinks so.”
Touché, Poppy. But it’s still un-American.
In theory I do wholeheartedly concur with your assessment that the rules of spelling, grammar and punctuation are falling by the wayside. Unfortunately I cannot regard your pedantry for the specifics about comma placement as I am Canadian, thus bound by the rules, conventions and traditions of British grammar and spelling. Much like the Imperial system of weights and measures, you cannot consider your own usage to be the "standard" when you and your countrymen are in the clear minority. Ergo, I do take some minor offence to your allusion that the rest of the world is "doin' it wrong".
Posted by: Felis Panthera | 06/13/2011 at 02:13 PM
I didn't intend to offend you or anyone who follows the British rules of punctuation when writing for consumption by British (or Canadian) readers. What I was suggesting was that when someone who is American writes something for consumption primarily by an American audience, the writer should use American rules for punctuation.
I was also surprised that when the American version of Lynne Truss' book was published, it was not edited to comply with American rules of punctuation. It was, after all, a book about punctuation! Contrast that with the Harry Potter books, in which the American editions were edited to follow American punctuation rules.
I didn't suggest that my own usage or American rules for punctuation should be the world standard, but as the old saying goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
Posted by: Doobster | 06/13/2011 at 03:01 PM