Originally posted by puppy
When it comes to commas and periods, though, logic doesn't enter into the equation, at least not in the United States. Universal American usage places commas and periods inside the quotation marks, regardless of logic.
~"Diane," she said, "put the book down and go outside for a little while."
~"I will in a minute," she replied, "as soon as I finish this chapter."
http://grammartips.homestead.com/inside.html - 2nd paragraph down.Ah, more grammar and spelling and quotation help from the morons on this thread. Except you're STILL wrong, as usual.
The sentence in question is: Apparently the quality of teaching in your school "ain't good".
Your comment is -
Originally posted by puppy
I guess you meant to put "ain't good." right? Because the punctuation goes inside the quotation marks when ending a sentence. Your source is Tina Blue, a rather hideous woman who graduated from a very unremarkable institution (U Kansas) and is not a member of any of the widely recognized councils on grammar. Right away her explanation admits that the "rule" she is publishing conflicts with all International standards of English - she herself admits that most of the rest of the English-speaking world uses a different system than what she teaches.
Tina claims that putting the period inside the quotation marks is some American usage rule, an exception from the rest of the English-speaking world. That's not quite true. No such rule was ever developed or approved. Rather, the typographical limitations of early American printing presses forced early American newspapers to end all sentences with periods inside the quotation marks, even when it violated correct English. Early Americans copied the newspapers so this mistake became pervasive in America. Teachers from places like Kansas, taught be equally ignorant Americans from Kansas, passed this mistake to their students, and are still doing so, as your example shows.
Now, let's review:
First, you claim that my usage was incorrect. However, in order for you to be correct about me being incorrect, you must not merely show that an evolution of American misusage generally also allows your perversion of the language, but that my usage is wrong.
Instead, you've shown no such thing. You've shown a perversion of the language copied from early American newspapers with printing limitations, that persists because of the general ignorance of Americans like yourself. Yet the rest of the English-speaking world doesn't accept this American perversion. And even in America, your own source, Tina Blue, admits that she allows students who have been educated correctly in the traditional and logical use of punctuation (the international/British style) to continue to use that style in her classrooms in America. So your own source allows both styles in America, depending on the education background of the user.
Furthermore, GLB is hardly an America-only site. And the forum here is "Africa AAA1" which would indicate that the preferred style of English would be the British/International style used by every African nation that teaches English.
So your claim that my usage is incorrect is entirely without basis. You are completely incorrect in making that claim. Just because you're a typical ignorant American doesn't give you any excuse.
had to stop you after 3 in a row lol 
