Q. Is it always necessary to use an en dash while it is representing a range of numbers (15–30)?
A. No, but it’s Chicago style. Since en dashes used to be available only to typesetters, typists have
long used hyphens instead. Even with word processors, many people don’t know how to produce an en dash.
Many editors seek the abolition of en dashes, believing that they serve no purpose that couldn’t be
served by other punctuation. (Legal writing is an arguable exception.)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Our writing department uses Chicago’s style of putting spaces between the periods in ellipses. The
graphic designers argue that in typesetting, the space is much smaller, and so use the ellipses character that is built into
our publishing software. Who is correct?
A. Everyone is correct. Chicago uses the spaces, but not everyone follows Chicago style. Someone in your department just needs
to pick a style and stick with it. If you use the ellipsis character, make sure your typesetters know whether you want spaces
between the dots.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Does the following sentence require a question mark or can it be given a period? Would you please make sure she gets a letter
for her two scarves, ten stocking caps, men’s clothing, and household items brought in on October 30
of last year.
A. Either will do, but a period gives the sentence a slightly bossy tone, while the question mark is more polite.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Oh, English-language gurus, is it ever proper to put a question mark and an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence in
formal writing? This author is giving me a fit with some of her overkill emphases, and now there is this sentence that has
both marks at the end. My everlasting gratitude for letting me know what I should tell this person.
A. In formal writing, we allow both marks only in the event that the author was being physically assaulted while writing. Otherwise,
no.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In the initial manuscript stage (submitted by hard copy, if it matters), is it preferable to include page numbers or not, considering that they would be useful for editors’ reference but do not reflect the actual page numbers used for publication? And if page numbers are preferred, where do they go? Should the first page be numbered? Should pages with endnotes? Bibliography?
A. Yes, page numbers are important on every single page of a paper manuscript, if only to save the editor when the manuscript ends up on the floor. An editor often refers to page numbers during editing, and designers and print buyers and marketers need to be able to estimate the length of a project. Page numbers at the upper right are conventional, although some publishers request them at the center bottom. Other locations are unconventional. Please see CMOS 2.38 for some additional considerations.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Where does punctuation fall in the context of botanical varieties, which are treated with single quotation marks? I have been assiduously changing commas that are inside the final single quote, moving them outside: Excellent garden varieties include Ceanothus ‘dark star’, ‘Yankee Point’, and ‘Joyce Coulter’. But I’m now starting to have doubts.
A. Doubt no more. Please see CMOS 8.130, on horticultural cultivars: “Such names are enclosed in single quotation marks; any following punctuation is placed after the closing quotation mark. If the English name follows the Latin name, there is no intervening punctuation. For examples of this usage, consult any issue of the magazine Horticulture.”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In Canada we have a province that is almost always abbreviated as B.C.. When using it at the end of a sentence do you add
the period (as I just did), or leave it as is? Without the period, it looks like a run-on sentence, but with the period it
looks like too many dots.
A. One period is enough. Check it out in printed books and magazines and newspapers: you probably won’t
find any double periods after abbreviations. I wouldn’t worry about readers getting confused; we’re
used to taking cues from the context.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. When using a superscript footnote number at the end of a sentence, should the period precede or follow the footnote number? What about footnote numbers in midsentence that fall next to some other form of punctuation (comma, semicolon, etc.)?
A. Please see CMOS 14.26: “A note number should generally be placed at the end of a sentence or at the end of a clause. The number normally follows a quotation (whether it is run into the text or set as an extract). Relative to other punctuation, the number follows any punctuation mark except for the dash, which it precedes.” Paragraph 14.26 also includes examples.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I frequently edit indexes for heavily illustrated books. The indexer has been instructed to index the photographs. The result
can be somewhat strange:
McIntosh apples, 231, 231
Can’t the reader assume that a photo page might also have text on it? Or is it better to break out the
italic numbers separately? And should the text page precede the italic page when they are the same number? Also, how should
the italic (or bold) page numbers be treated when there is a range of text pages with photos dropped in?
McIntosh apples, 231–235, 234–235
A. CMOS ignores these indexing dilemmas, perhaps because no single solution stands out as the best one. Indexers decide how to handle
references to illustrations depending on how heavily illustrated the book is, how much room there is for an index, and other
factors. All of the choices you describe are reasonable. If you think a particular method is expedient but might need explaining,
add a headnote or footnote to the first page of the index.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. When a plural possessive ends a sentence, where does CMOS recommend that the apostrophe fall—before or after the period? For example: Because UAVs fly relatively close to the ground, their surveillance “footprints” are smaller than the satellites’. Is there a rule in CMOS that covers this?
A. Yes. Please see CMOS 6.118: “An apostrophe should not be confused with a single closing quotation mark; when a word ends in an apostrophe, no period or comma should intervene between the word and the apostrophe.”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]