Re: Translations from UK to US

On Sep 16, 9:23 am, Bill Blakely <wcblak...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:04:24 -0500, Ron Hunter <rphun...@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:



Bill Blakely wrote:
On Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:56:05 -0500, Ron Hunter <rphun...@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Bill Blakely wrote:
On Sat, 15 Sep 2007 03:50:08 -0500, Ron Hunter <rphun...@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

I don't. Somehow the following makes me cringe:
Have you read that Patrick Henry said; "Give me liberty, or give me death?"
Sorta corrupts the meaning, doesn't it?
I don't see it, Ron. I also don't think the comma is standard usage
in that case, either.

However, I do agree that British punctuation generally makes more
sense than American.

The ending punctuation for the sentence is, currently, supposed to be
inside the quotation marks. This is simply WRONG. NOTHING belongs
inside a set of quotation marks but the QUOTE. Changing the ending
punctuation is downright illegal, as it changes the meaning of the item
attributed to the author. Worse than plagiarism in my book.

Sorry, I was thinking about the comma and the question mark went right
by me!!

I agree totally: that punctuation is totally wrong. But keeping a
sentence's punctuation outside any quoted material it contains is
exactly why I think British punctuation is better.

I don't know just how British rules differ. I suspect that some of the
changes made in the US weren't made in the UK, but nothing really
drastic, I am sure.

I believe they would render it thus: Have you read that Patrick Henry
said: "Give me liberty, or give me death!"?

Hopefully one of our friends in the UK will confirm or deny that.

If so, then I would agree that the British punctuation is better. I do
know that MS Word grammar checker INSISTS that the ending punctuation
goes INSIDE the quotation marks,

That is standard American practice, and it's never made sense to me.

and this is just plain WRONG as it may
change the meaning of the quotation. Misquoting in that way is an
insult to the person quoted, and could, under some circumstances, lead
to legal problems.

Somewhere along the line some American grammar and punctuation weenie
made a very bad choice. I make it a practice, especially in more
formal writing, to avoid putting quoted material at the end of a
sentence. In this case I would say something like: Have you read
that Patrick Henry said, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" in a
speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses?

I'm still learning so it seems. I always put the punctuation where it
belongs, as in, if it belongs to the quote, it goes inside, if it
belongs to the whole sentence, it goes outside. I didn't realize
someone had made a rule to do otherwise. I don't use a grammar
checker and when I read, I see it done both ways. I'm not even sure
if what you say about weenies is correct. Is this a Microsoft thing?
If so, they have a history of not conforming to existing standards
even when existing standards make more sense. But, interestingly, I
try not to end a sentence with a quote, it just looks like bad writing
to me.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Translations from UK to US
    ... Sorta corrupts the meaning, doesn't it? ... punctuation is downright illegal, as it changes the meaning of the item ... That is standard American practice, and it's never made sense to me. ... belongs, as in, if it belongs to the quote, it goes inside, if it ...
    (alt.fan.harry-potter)
  • Re: Translations from UK to US
    ... Have you read that Patrick Henry said; "Give me liberty, ... Sorta corrupts the meaning, doesn't it? ... punctuation is downright illegal, as it changes the meaning of the item ... belongs, as in, if it belongs to the quote, it goes inside, if it ...
    (alt.fan.harry-potter)
  • Re: Translations from UK to US
    ... Have you read that Patrick Henry said; "Give me liberty, ... The ending punctuation for the sentence is, currently, supposed to be inside the quotation marks. ... Changing the ending punctuation is downright illegal, as it changes the meaning of the item attributed to the author. ...
    (alt.fan.harry-potter)
  • Re: Translations from UK to US
    ... Have you read that Patrick Henry said; "Give me liberty, ... Sorta corrupts the meaning, doesn't it? ... The ending punctuation for the sentence is, currently, supposed to be ... I believe they would render it thus: Have you read that Patrick Henry ...
    (alt.fan.harry-potter)
  • Re: Translations from UK to US
    ... Have you read that Patrick Henry said; "Give me liberty, ... The ending punctuation for the sentence is, currently, supposed to be inside the quotation marks. ... Changing the ending punctuation is downright illegal, as it changes the meaning of the item attributed to the author. ...
    (alt.fan.harry-potter)