Punctuation query...

[seasidemama]

Hello,

Just wondering if any of you bright pedants can help me resolve a punctuation issue I've been puzzled by for years.

What happens when you have a sentence such as:

As soon as I knew of the situation I informed the seller (it was not fraud, by the way, but an unusual shopping trip to Glasgow!).

My query is about the correct punctuation for the end of that sentence e.g. the "Glasgow!)." part. Should there be a full stop outside the bracket or not?

Thanks!

(Excuse the bizarre example - I was writing a message about an E-bay disaster when this form of sentence came up and reminded me I still hadn't found the answer)

I'd prob go with:

As soon as I knew of the situation I informed the seller. (It was not fraud, by the way, but an unusual shopping trip to Glasgow!)

I could be totally wrong but I didn't think yhou had to put a ) at the end of a sentence if it ended in a ? or !. This would mean it read as(it was not fraud, by the way, but an unusual shopping trip to Glasgow! As I say, I could be wrong and if so I will be blaiming pregnancy brain

Oooh! Thank you!

For some reason I thought clauses in brackets had to be part of a sentence, not a sentence in themselves.

Yes, I think you should. Found this on Sheffield Hallam uni's site:

You need to be clear whether punctuation marks belong to the text inside or outside the brackets.

For text inside brackets, use punctuation which belongs to it. If the words form a complete sentence they should end with a full-stop (or question mark if appropriate).

The sentence into which the brackets are inserted also has its punctuation. It must end with a full stop or question mark, outside the brackets, even if the brackets come at the end of that sentence.

Example
Some people prefer live theatre while others prefer films (do I hear you say "I like both"?).

Thank you TheOldestCat!

It still looks odd, but makes sense now. Strings of punctuation just wind up looking like computer code to me, and not at all like prose. I obviously need to retrain my brain.

Well, I never knew that. I always skip the full stop after the brackets if there is a ? or ! inside the closing bracket - I assumed that was correct.

MN is so educational (don't you think?)!

Thanks Lapin - wonderful thinking! Next time I'm idly browsing MN threads instead of doing something productive I shall appease my conscience by saying I am "educating" myself...
That should keep the darn thing quiet for a good chocolate bar or two!