THe last example, though clumsy enough to warrant reframing, is technically correct; I’d accept it as quoted speech, but I’d rewrite if it came across my desk in written text.
Chicago also caps a quoted sentence, btw.
refusal
Is the question ‘Where was he?’ or ‘What was he doing?’?
It’s interesting that the above option - which Fowler called the ‘logical’ style of punctuation - seems to be gaining ground nowadays, as many people are familiar with computer languages, which require correct closure of nested constructs.
dantheman
Quite frankly, “himself or herself” is quite a bit more obtrusive - not to mention awkward - than simply saying “himself.”
But that was my point about McGraw-Hill. Those who defend constructs such as “himself” always seem to present only the obtrusive alternatives, in order to rubbish the possiblity of solving the problem elegantly. Good gender-neutral writing finds subtler ways around it, such as shifting to plural as refusal and I suggested.
I prefer “oomalaka”.
I disagree. The excerpt you quote clearly states that a stop is needed at the end of the containing sentence, so it should be
(note period at end of the whole shebang)
At least, according to that particular style guide. And as a programmer myself, I must add that I agree: That’s the least ambiguous and most precise method of punctuation.
I dunno about that. If I read that sentence in a book, with that extra period on the end, I’d probably try to brush it away as if it were a speck of dirt or unsecured ink. Then I’d get the Wite-Out. 
Always? Au contraire. You can recast the sentence - which is preferable, because it’s much less awkward and forced - or you can choose “himself” to cover both genders, as many are doing nowadays. Either should be fine, except in the specific case I mentioned, that in which the gender is not known.
You can prefer to recast a sentence to make the gender irrelevant, rather than forcing a “gender-neutral” word, but it seems to me that it’s better to have a word such as “himself” than two words such as “himself or herself.” Pure economics, that’s all. The latter still conveys the correct and intended meaning.
I have NEVER seen a sentence end with
“?”.
Oops, I meant ending with
?".
(I can’t even type the thing, it’s so weird!)
Ah, this is so refreshing. Quibbling over, ?". when so manmy people here use no punctuation at all, oft times not even bothering to capitalize “I”.
Maybe, there is hope for civilization.
To all of the himselfs and herselfs keeping the flickering flame of proper grammar and syntax alive and healthy; I salute you.
OMG! I spelled “many” wrong! I am so sorry. Please, forgive me. I’ll send myself to bed without supper tonight. 