ATTN: Copyeditors and Grammar Fiends

You're hardly one to talk, but you're right in this case.

shout-out n (1990) : a brief expression of greeting or praise given esp. on a broadcast or audio recording

I think my problem with "bigged up" is that it's difficult to accept "big" as a verb with multiple tenses ("bigs," "bigged," etc.). "Up," on the other hand, already functions in this way in expressions like "upped the ante."

How do you shot something like, "Joey Jojo Junior Shabadoo, the Székesfehérvár, Hungary, based lovemachine, etc."? Do I need to shots a hyphen before "based" even though I have to specify what country Székesfehérvár resides in? Don't tell me I have to nix the comma after Hungary!

Next up: how do I kill the co-managing editor who's been ruining my reviews because he used to be the copyeditor and thinks he has a coherent grasp of grammar/style? Without, of course, arousing suspicion.

x-post

quotation marks: 1) double quotation marks all the time, right, except if one is quoting something and there are quote marks within that quote (these become single quotation marks), 2) include all punctuation inside the quotation marks or only non-period/comma punctuation? and if there is a source in parentheses, put period after that, correct? "Blah blah blah 'blah' blah!" (Thingy 1992).
and also (from the paper i'm actually editing): - These superheroes, with names like “Black Lightning” and “Black Panther”, indicate the status - that comma there, should in go inside the quotation marks or is it correct as is, according to Chicago style.

with names like "Black Lightning" and "Black Panther," indicate the status

I'm not sure about the source in parentheses, since I don't really know Chicago Manual of Style at all -- every course I've ever taken has used MLA. I'm assuming that the exclamation is what's throwing you off, though, right? Because "ordinarily you'd just do this" (Dude, 2005).

i have to say, i dig APA but i'm going MLA for my own stuff, unless i go do something in psych or maybe soc, of course...

thanks :)

From ahem wikipedia manual of style, yes ok I know, but they speak the truth here:

When punctuating quoted passages, include the punctuation mark inside the quotation marks only if the sense of the punctuation mark is part of the quotation ("logical" quotations). When using "scare quotes", the comma or period always goes outside.

But I am (1) not a sub/copy editor and (2) a Britisher. So don't listen to me. Why *would* you put the punctuation inside the quotation marks, unless they are part of the quotation to be marked?

(xpost - yay, I speak sense!)

cornhole each other, mostly.

"You do" (WTF, 2009).

Unlike the serial comma thing (which, Robyn, just make sure your quote-comma style matches your serial-comma style!), the punctuation-outside rule is one point where I'm willing to admit that the UK style -- while not typographically pleasant -- is probably more logical in terms of meaning. I'm often copyediting and want to suggest a replacement phrase, and I'll write something US-style, like, I dunno...

use "bonus," to avoid repetition

...and then be slightly afraid whoever takes up the comment might interpret the comma as part of my suggested change. (Bad example, as I would just omit the comma there, but you know what I mean.)

"That's incredible!" he said.
"Are you coming with me?" she asked.

When a complete sentence is in quotes, the full stop should be inside the inverted commas: He said: “The cheese will be very tasty.”

If only part of a quotation is used, the punctuation is outside the inverted commas. He said the cheese would be “very tasty”.

When a sentence ends with a quote inside another quote, split the two sets of inverted commas with the punctuation mark. He said: “The mice claimed the cheese would be ‘very tasty’.”

According to CMOS:
My favorite The Beatles' albums are Help! Sgt. Pepper's, and Revolver.

One last citation punctuation: if you're setting the quotation in a block (i.e. when you're quoting 3+ lines), the citation doesn't have punctuation at the end. Though I'm thinking of MLA, don't know about CMOS.

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
Work, 2999

If only part of a quotation is used, the punctuation is outside the inverted commas. He said the cheese would be “very tasty”.

This is actually just UK style pretending to be complicated. The top one goes inside quotes because the mark is native to the quote itself. The bottom one doesn't, because it's not.

xpost

Yes, but your earlier table said "UK=outside the quotes" which is wrong.

One thing that does bother me, though: a foreign word that's not in Webster's is supposed to be italicized, but if you're speaking of it in the plural, the "s" has to be in roman, which just looks messy to me. For instance:

"I ordered a Thai iced coffee and two pad kee maos."

It makes sense to do it this way, since pad kee maos is presumably not the way that the Thai language pluralizes this dish -- in other words, the "s" is functioning as an English plural, even if the rest of the word is in Thai. But still, eek.

Her favorite songs are “Hello Dolly!” “Chicago” and “Come with Me.”