Quoting a pronoun or proper noun at end of dialogue

Question

Does anyone know what the American standard is for quoting a pronoun or proper noun at the end of a sentence in dialogue? I'm not sure where the period goes. Here's what I'm working with:

"He needs a name. Can't keep calling him 'dog'. What do you think?"

"He didn't have a name, so we all just called him 'the Devil'."

Or should it be:

"He needs a name. Can't keep calling him 'dog.' What do you think?"

"He didn't have a name, so we all just called him 'the Devil.' "

I was under the impression that, when referring to someone in this way, you put the period outside the single quotation marks. When I research nested quotations, the rule for American literature is to always include the period inside, but I can't find any examples of this exact type of sentence structure.

Advice?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

It is only the closing double quotation mark that dictates where the punctuation goes. The occurrence of a single quote inside the double has no effect on the placement of the other marks: "… 'the Devil'." A period follows a single quotation mark at the end of a sentence wherever it occurs: "He needs a name. Can't keep calling him 'dog'. What do you think?" (There are special coventions in the sciences that dictate single quotes for some things, and the period follows those, too.)

This is from Chicago, but it also makes sense. A period just looks all lonely and small way out there after double quotation marks have already squared off the end of the sentence, but the single quote lets it sit there quite comfortably. Other than that, you don't have to worry about it, at least not for the period.

CalifJim · Answer

train book 253American standard

The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition (6.9), says, “Periods and commas precede closing quotation marks, whether double or single.”
Example:
People regularly use quotation marks when it's not "necessary."
Source: http://editingandwritingservices.com/commas-periods-inside-or-outside-quotation-marks/

The rule is totally illogical until you consider the original reason for it. Early in the history of publishing, type-setters found that the period was such a weak character that it kept breaking off in the printing process, so it was placed before a quotation mark when possible — to protect the period from damage.

As is usual, however, now that we have different technology for printing, and the reason for putting the period first is no longer an issue, we continue to insist upon it because "We've always done it that way."

Consequently, following the principle of "Protect the Period", these are the ones that follow the American standard:

train book 253"He needs a name. Can't keep calling him 'dog.' What do you think?"
"He didn't have a name, so we all just called him 'the Devil.' "

Personally, I don't follow this convention, even though I'm American.

CJ

Quoting a pronoun or proper noun at end of dialogue

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