A Message From the English Police

Sheldon has been calling me the English Police forever. I do not claim this title and writing this blog feel a little nervous about making a grammatical error. Sheldon says I always correct people (mainly him), and if someone says something incorrect he instinctively knows that I am correcting them in my head.

My top 3 favorite mistakes I often (by the way you can pronounce often with or without the "t") correct in my head:

1) Supposeofly - This is not a word people. I myself used this growing up(probably through high school), and I don't know if it is a southern thing or what. The word you are trying to use is supposedly.

2) Hisself - This also is not a word. People particularly in the south use this as a non-standard of himself. Hisself is never correct to use unless it is separated as in "his self image" or something like that.

3) Salmon - Often times people pronounce the "l" in this word, but in fact it is silent. It should be pronounced as "saa-men" or "sam-uhn"just so you know.

Nevertheless, I have been fretting over a grammatical issue I've seen people using lately (people that I would think should know better). That issue is do you place punctuation within or outside of quotes? I was always taught that you place punctuation within the quotes. Of course exceptions do arise when using parenthetical citations, numbers, etc, but generally speaking you should place the punctuation within the marks according to several grammar sites I've visited.

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/quotation.htm
http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp

Apparently if you place punctuation outside the quote you are using the British standard.

So if you find backup to dispute my argument please don't bother to tell me. I'm going on what I've learned, and I hate being wrong.

-The English Police (or not)