Great-Grandma’s CMOS

A look back to 1906, when the more straitlaced 1st edition of the Manual offered intriguing punctuation!, puzzling spaces ?, and curious examples . . .

116. The interrogation point is used to mark a query, or to express a doubt:

“Who is this ?” The prisoner gave his name as Roger Crowninshield, the son of an English baronet (?).

Indirect questions, however, should not be followed by an interrogation point:

He asked whether he was ill.

117. The interrogation point should be placed inside the quotation marks only when it is a part of the quotation:

The question: “Who is who, and what is what?” Were you ever in “Tsintsinnati” ?

Clip Art old typewriter

For a facsimile of the 1906 1st edition of Chicago’s Manual of Style, click here.

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