Did Trump really rail about money for the WALL? That’s the question Yahoo News asks:
Did he rail or didn’t he rail? Perhaps he just asked the question, “Where is the money for … the WALL?” And perhaps the editors at Yahoo don’t know where a question mark goes when quoting an actual question. Here’s a hint: Before the closing quotation mark.
The writer and editor of this excerpt from Yahoo! Style probably think they know when to capitalize a word:
In this case, they would be wrong. When referring to the United States, States is a proper noun. (So, if you live in Australia and want to visit three states, you have to travel to the States.) They probably also think they know the title of that TV show called “So You Think You Can Dance.” They’re almost right: There is no question mark in the title.
When writing this headline, did the Yahoo! Finance editors really “go bonkers”?
Did they forget that a question mark goes before a closing quotation mark only when the quoted matter is a question?
Based solely on this sentence from Yahoo! Style, would you call the author a “good writer“? Would it matter to you that she doesn’t know where to place a question mark? Because this blogger isn’t feeling so good right about now. And neither are the readers of this sentence:
“Based on a true story?” That’s the question that yahoo.com asks:
Of course, that makes no sense, because the entire headline is actually the question. For some reason the editor made a common mistake (at least it’s common on Yahoo!) by placing the question mark before the closing quotation mark. In the U.S., a comma and period go before a closing quotation mark; a semicolon and colon go after. If you’re looking to place a question mark, put it before the closing quote only if the entire text inside the quotation marks is a question. Otherwise, it goes after the closing quote mark.
Guess what’s not a question. It’s this headline on the home page of Yahoo! TV:
That’s an imperative sentence starting with guess, which is a command to the reader, not a question.
It’s a short question, and it may mean something to a Yahoo! Style reader, but to me it’s nonsense:
Prom? That’s the question? Uh, no. The question is: Are these kids too young to be dressing up for ‘prom’? The entire headline is a question, not just the word in the quotation marks.
Guess what’s not a question on the home page of Yahoo! Style. This:
It’s not a question, it’s a imperative sentence.
Is this the end of the “Stupid Punctuation Placements”? Probably not. It’s on the home page of Yahoo! Parenting, where the editor thinks “Post-Baby Bikini Body” is an actual question:
No surprise here: Yahoo! Makers makes a mistake. Shocking, no?
Guess what the mistake is. It’s that question mark at the end of an imperative sentence.
Terribly Write 