Re: Free books

On 03/08/2025 07:01, Hibou wrote:
> Le 03/08/2025 à 02:29, Peter Moylan a écrit :
>>
>> I have vaguely noticed that there are punctuation differences 
>> between
>> AusE and AmE, but have never seen a place where the difference 
>> in rules
>> is explained. The only one that really sticks out for me is the
>> illogical placement of commas and periods on the wrong side of a
>> quotation mark.

Likewise.

> It's usual in AmE to use double inverted commas for speech (and 
> that's also my preference, because of their extra weight on the 
> page), whereas single inverted commas are usual in BrE.

``It's usual for me to use double inverted commas, because when I 
quote speech `I don't trust single quotes to be strong enough to 
hold the doubles in place', but the doubles have got the singles 
nailed.''

That's an example of where the comma belongs outside the qutation 
marks because it's not part of the quotation. The full stop, 
however, /is/ part of the quoted sentence and is therefore 
brought into the fold.

> 
> The Americans also use a full stop after abbreviations such as 
> Dr. and Mr.. (That double full stop is a Hibouisme - la logique 
> avant tout !) In BrE, a full stop is used if the last letter of 
> the abbreviation is not the last letter of the word - etc., Feb., 
> Rev., but Mr not Mr. - and to avoid ambiguity - to the relief of 
> the infamous coy. commander.

I was taught 40 years ago not to punctuate abbreviations, at 
least not in business correspondence. It seemed like weird advice 
at the time, but it has stood up to 40 years' hard use and has 
worn well.

Maybe what is usual in BrE isn't quite as usual as you thought.

-- 
Richard Heathfield
Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
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