"I Prefer Logical Punctuation". "Others Don't."

One of my biggest beefs with English style (and accordingly, those who pick grammar's nits) is the handling of hierarchical punctuation and the inconsistent American English approach to dealing with it. For example:

1. Toney scissor-kicked the mailman with what could only be described as "badger-like fury".

2. But in Toney's defense, the mailman said Toney "wrote like drunk 2-year old."

In traditional American English, example 1, while beautifully illustrative, is incorrect, all because the little "." at the end of the sentence isn't tucked inside the closing quotation mark. I actually learned this rule as a kid, but somewhere along the way, I developed a distaste for putting periods (and commas) inside quotes and brackets, and can no longer bring myself to do so. This is a bit of a problem when I hand in a draft to an overseeing attorney who prefers the old school line of thought, but nothing a little preemptive Ctrl-F'ing can't handle.

Ben Yagoda (one of Slate's finest) pens an article highlighting the turning tides against the traditional American way, and towards what he calls "logical punctuation". He gives two main reasons for this: 1) computer programming (operative punctuation must be place outside grouping/statement punctuation), and 2) the American way doesn't make sense.

Brits (who took Saxon olde English, circumcised it, and gave us the Chancery Standard) put periods outside of quotation marks. What happened with us? Yagoda's research finds that periods inside quotes developed because it is more "aesthetically pleasing". Yuck. I appreciate that beauty trumps practicality when it comes to many things (such as architecture and handbags), but punctuation should not be one of them (similar to mullets and tuxedo t-shirts). In addition, the way different punctuations are handled in American English is inconsistent. ?'s, ;'s, and -'s go outside the quotes. Yagoda also highlights the new composition medium, the internets, for being ripe with examples of periods outside quotes. If there's one thing we all know by now, it is that the internet never lies.

Anyway, I'm fully on board with this. Tradition for the sake of tradition (without logical purpose) drives my batty, and is to blame for everything from Prop 8 to those silly paper facebooks they still make at BLaw. It is only a matter of time until periods outside quotes becomes standard usage, but until then, I will grit my teeth and will plan the future demise of the capitalized "internet".

Also: congrats to you graduating 3Ls! I hope the protesters weren't too meddlesome this morning.