Notes & Asides

National Review, May 19, 2003 by William F. Buckley, Jr.

-- Dear Mr. Buckley: As a professional engineer, I am stereotypically recognized as unqualified to address matters of grammar. However, Dr. Neely's March 10 letter has touched upon one of my perpetual questions.

Why should closing punctuation for any non-dialogue sentence ever appear inside quotation marks? The punctuation is part of the overall sentence structure, not part of the phrase within quotations. What could be more logical?

I revere clarity, consistency, and stability in language. These seem to be best served by logic. Of course, Fowler does recognize the "conventional" and "logical" uses, with the "conventional system more favored by editors' and publishers' rules." Perhaps my engineering sensibilities lead me to be one of Fowler's "plain men" who do not see the merit of "conventional" usage when it flouts common sense.

Will Chairman Bill take up our banner for the cause of logic and clarity?

Your obedient reader,

Edward S. Thomas

Durham, N.C.

-- Dear Mr. Thomas: I've got too many banners hoisted, thanks very much, to welcome the weight of one more. All I can do is to agree with you absolutely on the logical point, and then submit to modern convention.

Cordially, WFB

-- Dear Mr. Buckley: Not much escapes your notice, so I take for granted that you, too, have noted the virtual elimination from the language of the gracious old "you're welcome" in response to any expression of thanks.

It has been years since I have heard anyone in public life reply with other than one of the following three responses: 1) "Thank you" (most common); 2) "No problem" (most annoying); 3) "It's been my pleasure" (acceptable).

Time was, every child was taught to say "thank you" and "you're welcome" as appropriate. Each had its unique purpose and meaning in the exchange.

This fairly basic alteration in the custom of language is especially off-putting in its most frequent setting: news broadcasts with clips from stringers or news analysis programs with visiting experts. The guest says "thank you" with the accent on you. One is left with the impression that he is overwhelmed with gratitude for having been invited to speak rather than confident in the fitness of his having been asked or the quality of his contribution.

I understand that danke serves both functions in German, and aloha means both "hello" and "goodbye" in Hawaiian, but English is a fuller language, providing every shade of meaning in its rich vocabulary, as no one knows better than you.

Though it has suffered countless dubious additions over the years, one resents the arbitrary deletion of time-honored grace notes.

Sincerely yours,

Helen Wildermuth

East Lyme, Conn.

--Dear Mrs. Wildermuth: But such changes are not arbitrary, they are evolutionary and idiomatic. That doesn't make them desirable, or euphonious, or morphologically defensible.

The French Je vous en prie sounds rather servile, but also sounds just plain nice, no-sweatwise.

The Spanish Por nada -- "For nothing" -- you'd object to on the same grounds that you reject "Thank you" as self-underestimation, but it serves the formal requirement of acknowledging the host's thank you. The Spanish have the more rococo A sus ordenes -- "At your command" -- which, subject to such scrutiny as yours, would once again be rejected as servile, even oleaginous.

Also in wide use after the thank-you's of television hosts are: "My pleasure" and "Any time."

The point, surely, is that a civil acknowledgement is made; less, its composition.

Cordially,

-- WFB