Lately I've found myself skipping the period, and just ending the sentence with "space" + ":" + ")", [now there's another example of where the punctuation better goes outside the quotes] unless I need a question mark or exclamation point to communicate the meaning.

If I'm narrating speech:
John said, "Look! A ball!"
"I don't want to look," said Sue.

If I'm doing anything else:
When it was suggested that Tyrannosaurus was "too overused to be featured", someone pointed out that Jefferson, too, was overused and had been successfully removed from history books.

I think it's just my own personal preference. Even though I'm a programmer, that doesn't mean I'll type:
John said, "Look! A ball!".
That just wouldn't make sense...

Close enough! Phrase Structure Grammars, developed by Noam Chomsky. Linguists use them to parse and understand languages (think "diagraming sentences"). Programmers use them to create new programming languages.

Can you noam one topic of study that is shared by both linguists and programmers?

Hmm. Syntax?

When I went to high school, I learned place the comma inside the quotes. Now that I've been programming various computer languages for 20 years, I can't bring myself to do it. It just looks like it breaks some nesting syntax rule.

In nearly every computer language, there is the concept of nesting your punctuations. You may write:

(stuff)
("stuff")
{(stuff),(stuff)}
...and many more variations, but the opening and closing markers match, and must both be at the same nested level.

Vaguely-related trivia: Can you noam one topic of study that is shared by both linguists and programmers?

It only irritates me because I have to correct it 99,999 times a semester in student papers. Most students automatically put the commas outside the quotation marks. I often joke with my students that they would have that rule down pat in the U.K. (I always share with them that in the U.K., the comma goes outside the quotation mark).

In terms of just the look of it, it seems neaterto me somehow with the comma inside the quotation mark. I guess it just looks enclosed rather than just hanging out there. However, I agree with the spirit of tromboniator's post. It seems to me that it makes more sense for the quotation marks to enclose only the exact words.

Here is the explanation for a whole host of grammatical, etc., errors: teachers that don't know the rules.

In terms of just the look of it, it seems neaterto me somehow with the comma inside the quotation mark. I guess it just looks enclosed rather than just hanging out there. However, I agree with the spirit of tromboniator's post. It seems to me that it makes more sense for the quotation marks to enclose only the exact words.

I guess I find it irritating because it took me so dang long to learn and ACCEPT these dumb rules. As a professional writer, I have to do it "right," even if I think the rules are stupid. Maybe, I see so many people "getting away with it," that it bugs me because I can't. Maybe, I'm afraid they'll change the rules on me and I'll just be too old to "unlearn" them.

And, (I write ad copy and media scripts, so, in my world, it's OK to start a sentence with "and") just maybe, it gives me a false sense of superiority because I finally trained myself to follow the dumb rules.

Thanks for the kick in the butt.

And thanks to all who responded to this post. All this confusion and consternation was caused by some typesetter? Sheesh. Thanks for the information. I appreciate it. Jonng423, that makes perfect sense about keyboard input. If it's OK, I'm going to put that into my next newsletter for our international media association.

And I feel so much better knowing what happens to "thinker uppers"... here or in Irish.

I know what the rules are, and can even bring myself to follow them if I absolutely must, but I can't for the life of me see why these rules have such staunch defenders. The castle is being defended, but I can't see any weapons. Just big, thick walls. Please, enlighten me.

Peter

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu.....tation.htm

In the United States, periods and commas go inside quotation marks regardless of logic. . . .

In the United Kingdom, Canada, and islands under the influence of British education, punctuation around quotation marks is more apt to follow logic. In American style [that is, in the United States, but not necessarily in other North American countries such as Canada], then, you would write: My favorite poem is Robert Frost's "Design." But in England you would write: My favorite poem is Robert Frost's "Design".
_____

See also
http://grammartips.homestead.c.....nside.html
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q.....ation_mark

History
The rule more common in North America follows an older standard that was also once common in England. Before the advent of mechanical type, the order of quotation marks with periods and commas was not given much consideration. The printing press required that the easily damaged smallest pieces of type for the comma and period be protected behind the more robust quotation marks. During the early 19th century, this typesetter's rule was standard in both Britain and North America, where the older tradition is still adhered to in everyday use and in almost all forms of formal writing. That punctuation should be placed outside quotation marks unless part of the quoted material was advocated by Fowler and Fowler in The King's English (1906).

Typesetters' rules does permit periods and commas outside the quotation marks when the presence of the punctuation mark inside the quotation marks will lead to ambiguity, such as when describing keyboard input:

In the File name text field, type "HelloWorldApp.java", including the quotation marks.

[Footnote: Part of a tutorial on Java programming on Microsoft Windows. Those parts of this page which would not be ambiguous follow the American rule.]

_____

Another example: Suppose I send this instruction to computer users:
Enter "http://w3.com."
I can expect to get calls asking, "Do I type in the period too?"
Even though it differs from common usage in the United States, the sentence is clearer when written as:
Enter "http://w3.com".
This is becoming more common in computer documentation, but I can't speak to whether it is considered acceptable usage by particular style guides or authorities.

2. You're right, that is most irritating. That said, I don't see any danger of it becoming accepted as correct--at least not anytime soon. However, there are a few instances in which the punctuation goes outside the quotation marks.
The example you gave, though, is not one of them. It matters not whether you are writing a title or quoting dialog; the quotation marks go around a period if the quotation is the last thing in the sentence. The exception to this is if the thing in quotation marks is a single letter or number.

Ex. One of our favorites was "Dancing in the Sweets."
Ex. To continue, you must press the button labeled "Enter."
Ex. The only grade that I will be happy with is an "A".
Ex. On this scale, the highest ranking is a "1", not a "10".

The other rule that allows punctuation outside of quotation marks has to do with exclamation points and question marks. If the punctuation goes with what is being quoted, it goes inside the quotation marks. If it goes with the sentence as a whole, set it outside.

Ex. Are we going to watch "American Idol"?
Ex. I prefer to watch "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"

I hope that didn't just confuse you...