Which is correct? Whom v. Who

[mashny]

Indeed, some technical writings choose to place the comma outside in the event that placing it inside might cause confusion. However, technical pieces rarely follow strict english guidelines; the two are very different.

Yep, it's a zoo. As annk said, it's important to know your audience and the rules for the particular publication.

 

[annk]

I think you'll find the correct Latin phrase is per se, meaning "in itself", rather than "per say", meaning nothing intelligible.

You're absolutely right, thanks.

There are standards, and they mostly disagree and contradict each other - especially if you don't choose and stick to one.

In the last few months I've had to deal with the Cambridge, Chicago, and Oxford guides / manuals, as well as stylesheets from the publishers Brill and Routledge. Not only do they differ on a lot of matters, but you can often find that they contradict themselves, if you look long enough.

 

[mashny]

Just wanted to say thanks for a fun, interesting discussion.

 

[annk]

Just wanted to say thanks for a fun, interesting discussion.

I was sitting here thinking the exact same thing, wondering if I should post it.

Thanks, this was fun.

 

[mashny]

I was sitting here thinking the exact same thing, wondering if I should post it.

Thanks, this was fun.

annk: does your avatar have anything to do with your name?

 

[annk]

annk: does your avatar have anything to do with your name?

Only that it's an ank.

I usually have a Wizard of Oz theme in my tars, I've just been super busy lately, haven't changed back.

 

[mashny]

Only that it's an ank.

I usually have a Wizard of Oz theme in my tars, I've just been super busy lately, haven't changed back.

That's what I suspected .

 

[Abstract]

In American English commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks.

Not always. For technical writing, you put it outside the quotations like the rest of the world. mashny points out this exception in American English. Some technical writing consistently puts it outside the quotations, even when they don't need to.

'

But what if you're writing a tech manual and give the reader the following instructions, "Type 'ctrl3&$buffer2,' hit the space bar twice, then hit enter." If you put the comma inside the quotes you run the risk of the person using that as the string of text to enter. In this case, you are causing confusion. You could always tell the reader not to add the final comma, but that might be confusing for some.

The semicolon in the above is correct (well, both are probably strictly correct, but the semicolon is more correct).

I would have used a semicolon as well.