Grammar tip of the day

[kate]

Because I use these A LOT in my technical writing, thought it might be useful for others out there.

i.e. = "that is" (or, "in other words")
e.g. = "for example"

Memory trick: Imagine that i.e. means “in essence,” and e.g. sounds like "egg sample."

Also, since I'm thinking of it, American dialogue attribution punctuation/capitalization, which only has a few variations but is something people get endlessly wrong. (For American English, punctuation is always within the quotes. Commas before attribution (she said), periods before non-attribution (actions other than saying, asking, exclaiming, etc.).)

"I say," she said.
"I say!" she exclaimed.
"I say?" she asked.
"I say," she said, "this is ridiculous."
"I say." She turned to me and stuck her tongue out. "This is ridiculous."

Comments

[china_shop]

but in American English, the only "correct" way would be to have the exclamation point inside the quotes.

Would that also be true for a question mark?

I've grown used to putting full-stops and commas inside the quotes, but I struggled a bit before I acquiesced to my beta's recommendation that a semi-colon should be inside, and I'd baulk entirely at a question mark. It changes the meaning!

[kate]

Yeah, unfortunately, according to American English, all punctuation must be inside the quotes. That said, I flagrantly ignore that when it suits me (like when it changes the meaning of the thing) and I think a lot of people (especially fiction writers) do as well.