> Funny, I always punctuate depending on whether the mark is part of the
> quotation (punc inside quote marks) or not (punc outside quote marks). I
> have never been corrected on this, although my diss. adviser was more
> assiduous with copy editing than with content discussion!!
 
"Comma and period inside without exception" is a convention of American
typesetters.  The "logical"--as though anything about language use were
logical <grin>--use of binding punctuation to the phrase more closely
than to the quotation marks is true for German, maybe UK English, French,
maybe Spanish also(?)
 
 
> Do Brits really use comma splices that often? I haven't noticed this. I
 
Yes, they do--as far as I've read British literature.  The concept
doesn't even exist in German, where sentences are "spliced" frequently.
 
==Cheerio, Reinhold
 ============================================================================
                         Dr. Reinhold Schlieper
Humanities Department                                      8 Red Maple Circle
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University                            The Woodlands
Daytona Beach FL  32114                                Ormond Beach FL  32174
Phone: 904-226-6664                                       Phone: 904-676-9392
        Visit my home page at: http://minbar.db.erau.edu/~schliepr
                   Private e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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Was sich ueberhaupt sagen laesst, laesst sich klar sagen; und wovon man nicht
     reden kann, darueber muss man schweigen.  --Ludwig Wittgenstein
             [probably anticipating post-modernism <grin>]
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