Grammar

[Rocco Stanzione]

On Tuesday 07 March 2006 13:32, Jeff Schering wrote:
> The series comma is a contentious issue, but I have decided to use it
> because, in general, it reduces abiguity. Perhaps the Ubuntu
> sytleguide can be modified to say something like "use the series comma
> except when it introduces ambiguity," followed by a few examples,
> preferably taken from actual docteam docs.

Jeff,

No problem on the series comma.  I personally dislike it, but it's best we 
choose one side over the other if only for the sake of consistency, and I 
reluctantly admit that the Chicago Manual of Style is sort of the go-to doc 
on things like this.

Next question: "Avoid using the apostrophe to indicate possession".  Why?  My 
best guess is that it's easier than using the apostrophe correctly to 
indicate possession, but building sentences that way can get cumbersome.  I'd 
be happy to contribute a complete set of rules for how and when apostrophes 
are used to indicate possession, including all the exceptions and 
meta-exceptions for when the possessor's name ends in an S.

One more question: As in the above paragraph, should we put the period inside 
or outside the quotation marks?  In the US we mostly say inside, and in the 
UK they seem to have a whole other set of rules for that.  I personally 
prefer the British system because, using the above example, since the 
referenced material doesn't include a period at the end of the quote, I don't 
think the period belongs there.  Same question goes for parentheses.

Thanks,

Rocco Stanzione
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