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british-englishpunctuation

I am very much hoping that I have punctuated all of the following examples correctly per BrE punctuation. And I'm hoping that my bracketed explanations adequately and logically explain my reasoning to punctuate them as I have done. That being said, are all correct per BrE?

  1. The sign said 'Handle with care.'
    [The original sign had terminal punctuation – thus the full stop goes inside the quotes, correct?]

  2. The sign said 'Handle with care'.
    [The original sign did not have terminal punctuation – thus the full stop goes outside the quotes to end the sentence, correct?]

  3. Pete said, 'The sign said "Handle with care." '
    [The sign contained terminal punctuation – hence the full stop goes inside as exampled here, correct?]

  4. Pete said, 'The sign said "Handle with care".'
    [The sign did not have terminal punctuation – hence the full stop goes outside the double ending quote marks as exampled here, correct?]

  5. "The sign said 'Handle with care'," Mike said.
    [The ending punctuation to this one is '," regardless of whether or not there was terminal punctuation on the sign.]

Best Answer

Having in recent years taken an undergraduate degree in history, at a British university, I have had a level of instruction on punctuation, footnoting etc. Below is how I would punctuate your examples.

But let me say from the outset that I am assuming that whether the 'sign' contains a full stop is totally irrelevant to the reader. If it were a matter of great relevance, perhaps a forensic clue to a major crime, I would add footnotes to explain. I certainly wouldn't rely on the reader picking up the correct inference from the subtlety of the punctuation!

The sign said 'Handle with care'.

The sign said 'Handle with care'.

Pete said, 'The sign said "Handle with care" '.

Pete said, 'The sign said "Handle with care"'. [This most definitely has to have the full stop last. The only instance in which I would not put the stop last would be if the whole thing was in quotes.]

"The sign said 'Handle with care'", Mike said. [I would put the comma after the second close quote though I wouldn't be dogmatic about it.]

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