On 20 Aug 2003 09:37:51 -0700, AnandVishy (Email Removed) wrote, in part:

I don't know, but I can tell you what I (American) do.

I asked, "Where did he go?".
I said, "Nowhere!".
I wondered "Why?", and proceeded after him.
Did you also ask "Whither?"?
No, I asked, "Where'd he come from?"!
The answer "Nowhere!" astounded me.
It "astounded you"?
The word 'scat', which is fairly new, means 'shoo'. N.B: Many write this last sentence thusly (but I don't): The word 'scat,' which is fairly new, means 'shoo.' Otoh, I think everyone would write as I do:
Brought to you by the letter 'K'!
Didn't Melville write, "Call me Ishmael."?
Or:
Didn't Melville write, "Call me Ishmael"?
the former only if I want to emphasize that it's a sentence, the latter if I don't particularly wish to.
"She is the fairies' midwife," and works nights.
It "comes in shape no bigger than an agate-stone", and weighs much less.
The former, because the comma is in the original, the latter because it's not. But I'd write:
"She is the fairies' midwife" and stablegroom.
because a comma is not appropriate
That reminds me. If I quote a whole sentence midsentence, as I just did, I'll often set it off, as I just did. If, for whatever reason, I'm not setting it off, I'd probably write that last sentence as: But I'd write, "'She is the fairies' midwife' and stablegroom", because a comma is not appropriate.
Or:
But I'd write: "'She is the fairies' midwife' and stablegroom." because a comma is not appropriate.
At least I *think* that that's what I'd do. See my actual writings for what I *do* do. :-)
Best,
Michael Hamm
BA scl Math, PBK, NYU

http://www.math.wustl.edu/~msh210/

I've chosen an easy way of giving you a comprehensive answer I've nicked it from somewhere else. Note that this describes American usage; there may be differences in British practice.
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Occasionally — very occasionally, we hope — we come across a sentence that seems to demand one kind of punctuation mark within quotation marks and another kind of punctuation mark outside the quotation marks. A kind of pecking order of punctuation marks takes over: other marks are stronger than a period and an exclamation mark is usually stronger than a question mark. If a statement ends in a quoted question, allow the question mark within the quotation marks suffice to end the sentence.

Malcolm X had the courage to ask the younger generation of American blacks, "What did we do, who preceded you?"
On the other hand, if a question ends with a quoted statement that is not a question, the question mark will go outside the closing quotation mark.

Who said, "Fame means when your computer modem is broken, the repair guy comes out to your house a little faster"?
If a question ends with a quotation containing an exclamation mark, the exclamation mark will supersede the question and suffice to end the sentence.

Wasn't it Malcolm X who declared, "Why, that's the most hypocritical government since the world began!"
A single question mark will suffice to end a quoted question within a question:

"Didn't he ask, 'What did we do, who preceded you?'" queried Johnson.

Authority for this section: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. 277. Cited with permission, examples our own.

END QUOTE
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