a man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said,
'This is my own, my native land'?"
This illustration is also a good example of the use of marks in
combinations. We have first the single quotation marking the end of the
included quotation, then the interrogation which ends the sentence, then
the double quotation marks in their proper position.
Quotation marks should not be used needlessly. Very familiar expressions
from the best known authors, such as _to the manor born_, _a conscience
void of offence_, _with malice toward none and charity for all_, have
become part of the current coin of speech and need not be quoted. Lists
of words considered as words merely, lists of books or plays, and other
such copy should be printed without quotation marks. Sprinkling a page
thickly with quotation marks not only spoils its appearance but makes it
hard to read, without adding to its clearness of meaning.
GENERAL REMARKS
Book titles are now set without points. This fashion was introduced by
Pickering of London about 1850. This method is generally to the
advantage of the title page thus treated. It is possible, however, to
carry it too far and so to obscure the sense. Commas should not be
omitted from firm names, such as Longmans, Green & Co., as in case of
such omission there is no way of knowing whether one or more persons are
indicated. Punctuation should not be omitted from the titles which may
accompany an author's name, nor from the date if day and month are given
as well as year.
Avoid the doubling of points wherever possible. When an abbreviation
precedes a colon, omit the period. When an abbreviation precedes a
comma, the period is often inserted, but in many cases one or the other
can be dropped to advantage. The dash is not generally preceded by a
comma, semicolon, or colon in current printing usage. A comma should
rarely go before the first parenthesis. If used at all with the
parentheses, it should follow the closing parenthesis. When a complete
sentence is enclosed in parentheses, the period falls within the
parentheses. When the enclosure is a brief passage at the end of a
sentence, the period falls outside the parentheses.
Do not put a period before the apostrophe and the possessive _s_ as in
_Co.'s_. The word _Company_ may be abbreviated to _Co._ although it is
not desirable to do so if it can be avoided. The possessive of _Co._ is
_Co's_.
SUMMARY
1. A comma separ
|