"xxx." or "xxx" according to CMoS.

Subject: "xxx." or "xxx" according to CMoS.
From: Dave Whelan <agi259 -at- FREENET -dot- MB -dot- CA>
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 10:10:45 -0500

Ron D Rhodes asserts:

According to the 13th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style, You should
ALWAYS enclose the final period, comma, question mark, etc., INSIDE the
final quotation mark.

My reply:

According to the 14th. edition, the Chicago Manual of Style still defines
this system as the "American style". It does, however, feel compelled to
defend its use. In "British versus American style" (5.13) the defence it
offers for using the American style is that "it seems to have been working
fairly well and has not resulted in serious miscommunication". This is
hardly a robust or convincing defence. The manual goes on to weaken the
defence even further by warning us of those circumstances where using the
American system may actually mislead readers.

I agree with the tenor of CMoS 5.13 and, along with some American language
experts, advocate the use of the British system.

Regards,

Dave.
***************************************************
Dave Whelan, Technical Writer
Whelan Technical Services (204) 334-1339
mailto:agi259 -at- freenet -dot- mb -dot- ca
http://www.winnipeg.freenet.mb.ca/~agi259
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