stupid grammar rule., POOH. Options

[sadolakced acid]

this sentence is punctuated correctly:
Did Bob say "lemmings"?

this sentence is punctuated correctly:
Bob really said "lemmings"!

this sentence is punctuated incorrectly
Bob said "lemmings".

the correct way is:
Bob said "lemmings."

which is the stupidest rule every.

Why?

because of why punctuation rules with quote work.

if the quotation is a sentence, end it in the quote. also end the sentence containing the quote.

Bob said, "I am a lemming.".

however, that is redundant and the last period is left off, leaving

Bob said, "I am a lemming."

however

Bob said "lemmings". is the proper way to punctuate it, and then there is no redundancy, and no periods to remove.

so why the f**k do you have to move the period inside the quotations?

[*krnxswat*]

shush and just follow the rule
shows how confusing english is

[lbjshaq2345]

yeah that is pretty retarded never looked at it that way

[*lolita kitty*]

yeah, i have noticed that. thats my worst grammar mistake.
it just shows how confuzing the english language is.

[Chii]

is this correct?

why did bob say "purple"?

i alwys get confused with this because the question mark isn't in the quote and i've always been taught that everything goes into the quotations

[*salcha*]

^

Yeah, that's right.

[misoshiru]

oi...i thought the questionmarks and exclamationmarks went inside the quotation marks. well, i learned something new today.

[silver-rain]

Well because in the first two sentences, the actual sentence itself is a question or exclamation, so it would not make sense if the mark was placed inside the quotation. However, in the third sentence, it's just a statement, so the period goes inside.
Acutally, I'm not so sure about that...

[*disco infiltrator*]

^ No, you're right. The period punctuates all of it, so it belongs in the quotations. The question and exclamation marks punctuate only the sentence.

[racoons > you]

^

then do you say:

Bob asked, 'what is a lemming?'

?

[misoshiru]

^ yes you do.

i get it...i actually do write it the correct way. hahah.

[xFaith]

Way to confusing for my small brains :P havent even had that on school

[jnukes]

hmmmm i never knew about that . about the question mark and exclamation point .

[*tweeak*]

If we lived in England, that wouldn't be the case. I recommend reading Eats Shoots and Leaves

[EddieV]

Man the English grammar gets really deep...

[*tweeak*]

^Since we're talking about grammar, you need a comma after "man."

[*mipadi*]

There are actually cases in which it is appropriate to place the punctuation mark outside the quotes, such as when lemmings is a special term. However, it is never incorrect to place it inside quotation marks, and it should definitely go inside if the period is also part of the quote (just as a question mark or exclamation point goes inside the quotes if it is actually part of the quotation).

[*incoherent*]

eh, perfect english isnt always needed. my teachers probably dont even know about it.

[*jooleeah*]

Bah. Grammar is confusing.

[EddieV]

^Since we're talking about grammar, you need a comma after "man."

Ha Ha Ha, really funny....

lol

BTW, Julia don't you have school?

[*tweeak*]

eh, perfect english isnt always needed. my teachers probably dont even know about it.

Mine definitely do. We get massive points taken off if we don't punctuate around parenetheses correctly.

[EddieV]

^ Yeah same here, especially since I'm in college.

[*disco infiltrator*]

Last year, my English teacher was incompetent, and this year, I have one who's reeeeally picky about things..

Anyway, you shouldn't just speak well for grades. Speak well because it sets a better example of yourself to others.

I had a half-day yesterday and today.

[*jooleeah*]

Nopee. Today is a teacher workday. =]

After reading this, I've noticed that I've made a lot of mistakes in my essays for school...and my teacher doesn't correct them.

[*tweeak*]

Last year, my English teacher was incompetent, and this year, I have one who's reeeeally picky about things..

Anyway, you shouldn't just speak well for grades. Speak well because it sets a better example of yourself to others.

I had a half-day yesterday and today.

I had that too. In 8th grade, I had a teacher who knew less about grammar and things than I did, and in 9th my teacher was not particularly concerned with specifics to last year one who picked a couple of points to dwell on and then just graded hard altogether. I haven't gotten any of my papers back to keep this year yet, so in my minimal viewing I'm not sure just how picky my teacher is, but I'm willing to bet she'll be just as bad as my current one.

I have a 4 day weekend as well (obviously, since I go to the same school as Julia)

[ecargnmyst]

wow..thanks for the tip i have sats tmr

[Paradox of Life]

Lmao. English is a stupid language. Those poor people who have to learn it as a second language..

[EddieV]

Aside from having incompetent English teachers, I've had the worse computer teachers. I basically taught the teacher.

Although I suck in grammar, but I've seen many students better...

[racoons > you]

I had that too. In 8th grade, I had a teacher who knew less about grammar and things than I did

SHE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED

*shudders*

[*jooleeah*]

^lol it's funny how i know exactly who you're talking about.

[racoons > you]

^

*shudders more*

julia, you know our pain...

[*[Filp]Essence*]

so why the f**k do you have to move the period inside the quotations?

I asked my teacher the samething, she says, "well, the period indicates that quote is over, and to not be redundant like you said - that replaces the one outside, because you can't have 2 periods.

[*tweeak*]

shudder indeed. Nami and Rob visted her. They said the's the same, but her hair is bigger

[racoons > you]

one day, it will eat her face.

and i will laugh.

then run and hide from the scary bleached fuzz ball, who will STILL be trying to make me read that hideous orange grammar book thing and write in cursive.

in case anyone has missed this, i am not a fan of hers

[sadolakced acid]

I asked my teacher the samething, she says, "well, the period indicates that quote is over, and to not be redundant like you said - that replaces the one outside, because you can't have 2 periods.

but you don't end "lemmings".

you're ending the sentence, not the quotation.

yet the period is stull supposed to be inside the quotation?

wtf?

[miss barnes]

i dont know why..its just the rule so i try to follow it when i do english

[aznxdreamer]

english sucks. especially when you dont have good grammar and everyone on cB hates you for it.

[sadolakced acid]

I'm sure no one will hate me for this so called "missue of grammar".

i'm very tempted to write a paper on why it shouldn't be a missue of paper and give it to my english teacher.

[LEGITERICJONES]

Thank you for educating me on that topic.

[haleakala1]

wow... didnt know that!

[sadolakced acid]

grumble. the point is not "education". It's about complaint- complaint of pure incorrecteness.

i think i shall write an essay and give it to my english teacher.

[*tweeak*]

^that'd be amusing

My friends and I are such geeks that we spent the ride home from the football game debating my possible misuse of the word "abetted," and then being told that we were all wrong because we were arguing in passive voice. Yes, you should be concerned for our sanity, but that was the game from hell, so not so much.

[gelionie]

I never really noticed about this before.
Probably I have made this mistake many times already.

[xosteffanator]

whooooaaaaa I'm realllllyyyyy good at grammar and ur confusing me......that's weird......

[ParanoidAndroid]

It probably because when Bob actually said lemmings, he said it as a Statement Sentence.. a.k.a sentence that ends with a period. The reason why they have to put the question mark and the exclamation point outside of the quotation marks is because when Bob said lemmings, he didn't end it with those punctuations..

got that from my teacher... that's ONE of the reaons, the other was stated by someone else already

i hope that clears things up

[Tung]

lol. wow thats confusing.

[ParanoidAndroid]

lol. wow thats confusing.

wait were you talkin to me or about the thing the guy was complaining about?

[sprezzatura]

I don't even know that "lemmings." rule until 8th grade when my English teacher taught the class.

[EmmalieV]

Never knew that you had to add grammar as in periods and such inside quotation marks , good to know.

[toodlepops.]

Oh. I never bothered with that.
It is odd, though.

[*reflection*]

my teacher said to always put punctuation marks inside the quotes

[luvzcha]

ya, english rule is so stupid. That's why i hate it!

[sadolakced acid]

it's utterly stupid, that's what it is.

[*Azarel*]

IT JUST LOOKS BETTER, OKAY?!

>=|

Haha. :)

[sadolakced acid]

and when i use sentence fragments for that reason, i get major points off.

it just looks wrong, that's what it looks like.

I WANT TO KNOW WHO MADE THIS STUPID RULE SO I CAN GIVE THEM A NICE TALKING TO.

[*Azarel*]

Uh. I use sentence fragments often. And I don't get marked off for them. And I'm in AP English.

...

I LAUGH AT YOU. HA.

<3

[o0olaalaa]

heh maybe its just one of those things that are "just because" =P

[sadolakced acid]

heh maybe its just one of those things that are "just because" =P

yea i don't believe in jesus either.


waaaaa i hate grammar rules. which is why i love poems. no rules. well, i hate sonnets and haikus and all other structured poems, because i will put however many sylablales i want goddammit.

[*tweeak*]

Uh. I use sentence fragments often. And I don't get marked off for them. And I'm in AP English.

...

I LAUGH AT YOU. HA.

<3

Yeah, I'm in AP / IB and we were encouraged to for the sake of impact

[sadolakced acid]

impact?

this. rule. is. just. totally. WRONG.

hmm. that's more of jolty than impacty...

let's try again.

English is stupid. The strange rules. The many exceptions. The utter stupidity.

hey! it works!

coolio.

but that rule is still utterly wrong.

[*tweeak*]

is was persuasion. impactive persuasion

[Heewee]

Actually, if you always follow the period period inside the quotes rule, then everything else should make sense. The reason why you don't put the exclamation point or question mark inside the quatation marks is because the line that somebody is saying might be a question or being exclaimed but not what is in the quotes.

For example Susie says:
Did you hear Tom say "Andrea looks pretty today"?

Susie is the one asking the question, so it should remain outside of the quatation marks. However, if Tom was asking "Andrea looks pretty today?", then the question mark would be inside the quotes.

I might have just confused you more. Sorry if I did. This all makes sense to me, though. lol

[jennyjenny]

That was very insightful.

I always thought it was Bob said "Lemmings".
Oh well.

[crazedbaby]

That's interesting. I always put everything into the quotations..

[sadolakced acid]

Actually, if you always follow the period period inside the quotes rule, then everything else should make sense. The reason why you don't put the exclamation point or question mark inside the quatation marks is because the line that somebody is saying might be a question or being exclaimed but not what is in the quotes.

For example Susie says:
Did you hear Tom say "Andrea looks pretty today"?

Susie is the one asking the question, so it should remain outside of the quatation marks. However, if Tom was asking "Andrea looks pretty today?", then the question mark would be inside the quotes.

I might have just confused you more. Sorry if I did. This all makes sense to me, though. lol

i think you missunderstood my complaint...

it's

Bob said, "The lemmings are grey."

because it's supposed to be

Bob said " The lemmings are grey.".

but the two periods are redundant and so you drop the second one.

but when it's

Bob said "lemmings".

you're not droping a period, you're arbitrarily moving a period.

makes no sense.

That was very insightful.

I always thought it was Bob said "Lemmings".
Oh well.

it should be. someone stupid made the "period always inside" rule.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Sometimes it's better to kiss a grammar rule's @$$ then to make things complicated and complain about it.

And I believe the only time you do this,

Bod said "Lemmings" .

When you use that as a definition for something. For example, Hai means "yes".

[Endless_Love ...]

hmmm i guess i see your confusion, but thats the way i always learned it, so i guess it doesn't seem that confusing to me

[coconutter]

The english language does not need this many rescrictions. However, if you don't the government will hunt you down and put you in prison for 5 years.

[*mipadi*]

I finally figured out the rule for quotations.

Question marks and exclamation points go outside of the quotes, unless it is a part of the quote. For example, this sentence is correct:

Was the sign marked "Enter"?
The sign was marked "Enter"!

Of course, if it is part of the quote, it would be like this:

I think he asked, "What did the sign say?"

The issue of periods, of course, raises some issues, and it depends on whether the writer is using British English or American English. British English places the period logically--outside the quotation marks, unless it is part of the quote, as in:

The sign was marked "Enter".

American English, on the other hand, places it inside the marks:

The sign was marked "Enter."

Why? Apparently it dates back to old printing presses. Periods and commas were the most fragile characters in a printing press. Arranging them in such a way that a double quote mark was to the left, and a space was to the right, made them liable to being broken off or otherwise damaged. Thus, many printers starting placing the periods and commas inside the quote marks, so they were bordered by a letter and a quotation mark instead, and thus more protected.[1]

It's probably more correct to use the British style--most of the world uses British English--but the American style is not wrong. I personally prefer the British style, just because it makes more sense.

[*tweeak*]

I feel so knowledgable, having read "Eats, Shoots and Leaves." (American style punctuation there). (And there and here).

[Retrogressive]

I asked my English teacher the same damn question.
She couldn't explain to me why I couldn't write it.

[pshaa.shauna]

Maybe because the person who made up the rule thought "lemmings" was a sentence.



Of course, in that case, is would be:

Bob said, "Lemmings."


Gah, I don't know. This is stupid.

British English is better.

[*mipadi*]

Did anyone actually read my post, which is the reason it was brought up from the dank depths of archived posts? No, of course not, because if you had, there wouldn't still be a question as to the rule and its origin.

[*tweeak*]

I read the post. It didn't tell me anything I didn't already know (hence, my mention of Eats, Shoots and Leaves, but I did indeed read it.

[pshaa.shauna]

I think he was commenting at me.

I read it, but I think I misread it the first time. So then I reread it.

[sadolakced acid]

hmm. that's rather interesting. i shall try to bring that up.

[*tweeak*]

Mm, I was just letting him know that he was not being entirely ignored.

[AnnahhbeL]

its all right though..