D_Sheffield Thongbynder
Experimental Member
There is little room for disagreement in punctuating non-dialogue, FF & Alex8. Trends in attribution, especially in fiction, have muddied the waters regarding how to punctuate dialogue, however -- e.g., whether to use the word said after every piece of dialogue (as opposed to other verbs of attribution or no attributive verbs at all) even if it's a question. FF and I both learned in our youth that the attributive verbs had to be separated by commas even if they were questions or exclamations; now we universally accept the end-punctuation of the quotation and eliminate the comma. I would disagree with any editor who wanted to put a question mark outside the quotation, however. As Alex8 astutely said, a question without a question mark is like man without a penis. Since the intent of punctuation is to recreate voice inflection, etc., from oral language to clarify and prevent confusion, I think any changes in punctuation should be universally agreed upon (unless remuneration is threatened).
Enjoyed chatting punctuation with someone. That happens rarely these days -- and for good reason.
Enjoyed chatting punctuation with someone. That happens rarely these days -- and for good reason.