thelenm@cs.utah.edu writes:
> It did look deliberate, but it's also incorrect...
>
> http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp
The question of whether a grammatical form is "correct" is not an easy
one to resolve. [Insert the usual objections to arguments from
authority here.] Many grammar books and style guides contradict each
other. Some have said things that are just obviously ridiculous and
based on misunderstandings of English's origins (such as the famous
"don't end a sentence with a preposition"). Sometimes things that
people think are ancient & noble grammatical rules of English turn out
to be fairly recent developments, in some cases traceable directly to
a particular printer's or editor's whim, as late as the nineteenth or
even twentieth century.
If I wrote a grammar book, and cited it, would that be an equally
acceptable authority :-) ? Does it give me more authority if I tell
you that I was once an English teacher? It shouldn't, IMHO, but
anyway it's true.
> What's the reason for the extra period after the quote?
To end the enclosing sentence, of which the quote is merely one
element. The enclosing sentence is declarative, not interrogative,
therefore I don't want to end it with a question mark.
There, aren't you glad you asked? :-)
-Karl
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Received on Wed Sep 1 22:28:04 2004