It’s one of the simplest rules of punctuation, and yet one of the most frequently ignored by the writers and editors at Yahoo!. This time the offense appears on the Yahoo! front page, where millions of people can point and laugh:
The rule is simple: A question mark goes before a closing quotation mark if it is part of the quoted matter. In this case, it’s not. The title of the movie is not “Bling Ring?” The entire phrase is the question: Real-life ‘Bling Ring’?
There’s something missing here in this photo caption on Yahoo! Shine:
I think it’s a question mark. And maybe a word or two, though I have no idea what the word or words might be.
I sincerely doubt that this is a direct quotation from police on the Yahoo! front page:
If it were, the police would be as grammatically challenged as the editors for Yahoo!. “Where he was headed to and why” is not a question; it doesn’t deserve a question mark.
If it’s on yahoo.com, it’s incorrectly punctuated:
It’s well-known to readers of Terribly Write that Yahoo!’s editors and writers don’t know where to put a question mark when there’s a quotation mark nearby. It’s pretty simple: If the words inside the quotation marks are the actual question, put the question mark within the quotation marks; that is, before the closing quotation mark. Otherwise, put it after the closing quote mark.
But the geniuses could have avoided the whole issue if they realized that there’s no need for the quotation marks around Latino.
Why would the writer for the Yahoo! front page think this is a question? Is it because it starts with the word why?
It is, in fact, a declarative sentence that offers the hope of an answer to the question: Why is Obama graying?
Yup, it is. It’s a misplaced question mark (or maybe it’s a misplaced quotation mark) on the Yahoo! front page:
A question mark goes within quotation marks only if the words within the quotation marks are actually a question.
Someone who writes for the Yahoo! front page thought this was a question:
It’s not. It’s an imperative sentence. (There are four types of sentences: declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamatory.) An imperative sentence makes a request or gives a command. It does not ask a question and neither does that headline.
Here’s one way to set an example for children: Just screw up some punctuation as the writers on Yahoo! Kids did:
Hey, I didn’t say you’d be setting a good example, did I? (If you really wanted to set a good example, you’d put the question mark after the closing quotation mark.)
The popular TV program once known as “Survivor” has a new name. No, I’m not talking about the addition of the location in the title. (The show currently is “Survivor: Philippines.”) I’m referring to the addition of a question mark on the Yahoo! front page, changing the show’s name into a question:
In the U.S., commas and periods go before a closing quotation mark. But the location of question marks and exclamation marks depends on the context: If they are part of the quoted matter, they go within the quotation marks; otherwise, they go after the closing quotation mark.
The writer for the Yahoo! front page has a question for you. It’s “Housewives?” Yes, that is the question:
A more logical question might involve the issue of cheating on “Housewives.” But that would look like: Cheating on ‘Housewives’?
In the U.S., a comma or period goes before a closing quotation mark. But the location of a question mark depends on the context: If the words inside the quotation marks are a question, it goes before the closing quotation mark. Otherwise, it goes after.
