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Subject:Re: Punctuation Revisionism From:Feeman Kevin SC2275 <Feeman_Kevin_SC2275 -at- SATGATE -dot- SAT -dot- MOT -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 2 Jul 1997 14:18:28 MST
In my experience, I put computer code in a different type of font
instead of using quotation marks. It makes it easier for the user to
read and know what is a quote and what isn't. Just my two cents
worth.
The approach cited by Karen Wiley indeed used to be "THE" standard
taught in school (grammar school on up).
But extremely often in tech-writing, a phrase we're placing within quotes
is some kind of computer command. Usually the comma is NOT a part of the
command itself, and can easily cause confusion if it's included within
the quotes. So I always put the trailing comma outside the quotation
marks. For example:
If you enter the command "GO TO TOP", the program will set your
monitor on fire.
For my own writing (even non-technical), I've decided that I quite like
the approach of putting within the quotation marks only the elements
that are in fact being quoted. So I've adopted that convention in ALL my
writing.
In a quotation that isn't a computer command, if the quotation is a
complete sentence -- and if it ALSO ends the sentence in which the
quotation is being used -- then I put the concluding period inside the
quotation marks.
Like so:
Henry said his new pillow is "very soft".
Henry said, "my new pillow is very soft."
These are my own stylistic choices, and they're not conventions that I
would "enforce" within my group, except for the one about not-enclosing
a comma when quoting a computer command unless the comma is actually
part of the command.
--------
Ernie Tamminga
Director, InfoEngineering
Digital Sound Corporation
-----------------------------------------------
Opinions expressed are my own, and not necessarily those of Digital
Sound Corporation
>-------------
>Original Text
>From: "Wiley, Karen P." on 7/2/97 9:49 AM:
>As I have always understood it, periods and commas go inside the quotation
>marks always; semicolons, colons, and question marks, unless part of the
>actual quotation, go outside.
>
>Karen Wiley
>The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab
>karen_wiley -at- jhuapl -dot- edu
>-----------------------------------------------
From: Bill DuBay [SMTP:bill_dubay -at- PHOENIX -dot- COM]
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 1997 12:16 PM
I like that!
Bill DuBay
Technical Writer
Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
email: bill_dubay -at- phoenix -dot- com
>
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