A question on punctuation - Page 2 - WritingForums.com - Writing Forums, Writing Challenges, Critiques and Help for Writers

The Backward OX · 07-03-2009, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mermaid on the breakwater

Hoho - no you don't put two pieces of punctuation either side of a speech mark.

Use indirect speech for one reason: simplicity.

Jim explained to us how Darren had made it clear the assignment was not due in for another week; the professor had pushed back the deadline because he'd fallen ill.

"That's good news. I've only gathered the test results and haven't started my conclusion yet." Amy said, as we walked through the courtyard.

See how much easier it is?

This is a sentence?? >> Amy said, as we walked through the courtyard. ??

Comma after "yet", methinks.

Mermaid on the breakwater · 07-03-2009, 08:29 PM

It's none of your business, as WW would say.

The Backward OX · 07-03-2009, 08:47 PM

Have it your way then. You're the one who looks stupid.

The Backward OX · 07-03-2009, 08:48 PM

Mermaid on the breakwater · 07-03-2009, 09:14 PM

It's maleficia, Ox. You've put a hex on me so that my writing goes down the swanny. I shall have to report back to your owner that you've been raising Beelzebub.

Tiamat10 · 07-03-2009, 09:27 PM

Having looked up the OP's question in three different sources, my best answer would be that Calixto is right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp

Rule 4. Use single quotation marks for quotes within quotes. Note that the period goes inside all quote marks. Example: He said, "Danea said, 'Do not treat me that way.'"

Quote:

Originally Posted by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotation_mark

For speech within speech, the other is used as inner quotation marks:
“HAL said, ‘Good morning, Dave,’ ” recalled Frank.

Quote:

Originally Posted by http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/marks/quotation.htm

A single question mark will suffice to end a quoted question within a question:

"Didn't he ask, 'What did we do, who preceded you?'" queried Johnson.

Authority for this section: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. 277. Cited with permission, examples our own.

Mike C · 07-04-2009, 03:18 AM

As far as I'm concerned you're arguing pointlessly. An ugly sentence is an ulgy sentence. Rewrite it.

"He said it was lame" Dorothy said.

Why twist yourself in knots trying to complicate stuff?

Kinniku Mantaro · 07-04-2009, 02:32 PM

Quote:

"He said, "This is soooo lame,'," Dorothy told us.

I believe the example is wrong for another reason than mentioned, when quoting inside speech one uses quotation marks not speech marks, so it should read:

"He said, 'This is soooo lame'," Dorothy told us.

Edit: I didn't see some of the replies, looks like someone already mentioned my point. My apologies.

J. T. Grunge · 07-04-2009, 03:44 PM

All right...to remove the element of speculation...here's the line.

"What? Did you just wake up one morning and say "Oh, I think I'll call myself Smellmerdeane. Yes, that suits me!

It is spoken more as an exaggerated statement. the speaker is taunting ...being sarcastic. but she is still asking a question. Moment of disbelief... you get the picture.

The bottom line is I do not intend to change the line. I vow to follow your advice on lots of other things, but on this one I'm going to be stubborn.

The Wrong Writer · 07-04-2009, 04:23 PM

No reason for you change your line.
You should change the quotes around the 'Oh, I think...' quote to single (apostrophes) it's the convention for quotes with in quotes. and there should be a comma after "say" because that's the convention for quotations, separated from main sentence by commas (unless there is other punctuation required).

Close the single quotations of the included quote with a single quote mark (apostrophe).

Then you need a period because you just finished a sentence.

Then you need a double quotation mark to close out the entire quote.
So it ends up as "...me!'."

The Wrong Writer · 07-04-2009, 04:24 PM

There are no such things as "speech marks" Only single or double quotation marks.

The Backward OX · 07-04-2009, 07:04 PM

Ok, I have a question.

It’s about the use of only one of these little buggers >>>> ' in the example quoted throughout this thread and repeated below.I don’t care what name you give it – quotation mark, speech mark, apostrophe, when I was a kid two of them side by side were called inverted commas so that makes it a single inverted comma but what’s in a name - my question is why is it used here in this example in only one place? My understanding of the use of these symbols, whether double or single, is that they are used as a pair, to enclose something - like book-ends - and that means there should be another one at the other end of whatever is enclosed.

And there isn’t.

In case you’ve all forgotten, here’s the example:

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Wrong Writer

"He said, "This is soooo lame,' and meant it," Dorothy told us.

So, ???

SparkyLT · 07-04-2009, 07:39 PM

Not that I'm the expert (as most everyone else commenting here seems to think they are), but for what it's worth I would think you'd do it like this:

"What? Did you just wake up one morning and say 'Oh, I think I'll call myself Smellmerdeane. Yes, that suits me!'?"

But having said that, the four punctuation marks in a row does look funny to me. If at all possible I would avoid the situation ... something like:

"What, did you just wake up one morning and say 'Oh, I think I'll call myself Smellmerdeane. Yes, that suits me!' Huh?"

I think that's been suggested already, but maybe it bears repeating, eh? Anyhow, good luck with this madness, J.T.Grunge.

The Wrong Writer · 07-04-2009, 08:53 PM

Yes the string of marks looks weird. Like I said earlier, I usually try to work around and break it up. Not that hard to do most of the time.