Flying Tortoise wrote:
> Prisoner at War wrote:
>
>> Hi, All:
>>
>> Is it written "95 in 100 samples" or "95 in a 100 samples"? Does "100"
>> mean "one hundred" or "a hundred"? If you were to read the statement
>> "95 in 100 samples" out loud, what do you say for "100"?
>>
>> And what's the deal with stuff like putting question marks inside
>> quotation marks? I understand that typographically it looks better to
>> tuck everything within quotes, though logically it might lead to the
>> implication that the question mark is a part of the quote (say, in the
>> case of the title of an article). I've seen it done both ways,
>> actually, on the NYT website....
>>
>>
>> TIA!
>
> 95 in 100 .... or .... ninety-five in a hundred, never mix 'em!
>
> Question marks should be placed inside the quotation marks only if the
> material in quotes is a question. If the quote forms part of a question
> but is not the question, then the punctuation goes outside as logic
> dictates. Punctuation is supposed to help you read what the author
> intends, after all!
>
Ah. You've found somebody who is willing to give you a clear
prescription. Congratulations.
Now all you have to do is decide whether to trust his/her authority.
(I'm not casting aspersions on Flying Tortoise: I'm just not interested
in prescriptive answers or questions that elicit them).
Colin
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