Another Grammar Thing

Posted on March 25, 2004 in Writing

IreneQ did some rooting around the Internet in search of the origins of the queer American custom of putting the period inside the quotes. She found a website that explains how this happened:

It seems to be the result of historical accident. When type was
handset, a period or comma outside of quotation marks at the end of a
sentence tended to get knocked out of position, so the printers tucked the
little devils inside the quotation marks to keep them safe and out of
trouble. But apparently only American printers were more attached to
convenience than logic, since British printers continued to risk the
misalignment of their periods and commas.

She goes on to write for herself:

I suppose you know British and American spelling differ too, in minor ways? You guys put ‘z’s all over the place. Analyze, criticize,
finalize… plus honour and colour without the ‘u’ and centre with ‘er’
instead of ‘re’. Confusing all the poor students!

Yes, Irene. We’ve heard the kvetching about our spelling reforms. And I am quite aware about how the British Government propagates its quaint orthography through its embassies and semi-official “clubs” in major world capitals. But what real purpose does the “u” serve? And we don’t pronounce it “centr” or “cen-truh” do we? No, we pronounce it like we Americans spell it: center. Simple, crisp, more true to the word as it drops from the mouth than “centre”.

I’d put the score at American English 2, British English 1.

Have a ghoti.