Questioning a question

Ollie Saunders · Sep 25, 2009

What is the correct punctuation for questioning a question? Is it two question marks? Or, do you quote it and then question the quote?

Fred: Have you got them yet?
Jones: Have I got them yet??

Fred: Have you got them yet?
Jones: "Have got them yet?"?

Is every sentence in this post, a question?

alleycat · Sep 25, 2009

Is this for a stage play?

Ollie Saunders · Sep 25, 2009

No. It's for correctness.

alleycat · Sep 25, 2009

The reason I asked was the way you've formatting the lines with the character's name and then a colon (Fred: . . . ); as I recall that's the way stage plays are formattied in the UK (but not the US).

In any event, you don't use double question marks.

Ollie Saunders · Sep 25, 2009

I became aware of my lack of knowledge during an IM conversation, so I was replicating that, to a degree.

Ellefire · Sep 25, 2009

It would go like this:

"Have you got the them yet?" Fred asked.
"Have I got them yet?" Jones looked puzzled.

Something like that.

Ollie Saunders · Sep 25, 2009

But, there's no narrator in an IM conversation.

Ellefire · Sep 25, 2009

Oh, I thought you meant you were in an IM when the problem came up. *facepalms*

I would repeat the first question then. I'd write something like:

Fred says: Have you got them yet?

and Jones replies...

Jones says: Got what?
Jones says: Me? Have I got what yet?
Jones says: Have I got them? Am I supposed to be getting them?

not all of them, they are just examples. MSN messages do have the word 'says' in them.

StephanieFox · Sep 25, 2009

Your original conversation reminds me of a scene from 'My Cousin Vinny" in which the NJ speech pattern of answering a question with a question causes confusion in the deep South. Just sayin'.

Ollie Saunders · Sep 25, 2009

Ellefire, your example shows something I like a lot: I should not be ambiguously repeating the question, which only demonstrates some undefined of confusion associated with it, but asking for whatever information that would resolve the confusion. Maybe it's nice that there's no standard notation for questioning a question in English; to do so is silly.

Your original conversation reminds me of a scene from 'My Cousin Vinny" in which the NJ speech pattern of answering a question with a question causes confusion in the deep South. Just sayin'.

Heh, interesting. I think the ask-a-better-question-back solution avoids that problem too.

Questioning a question

Ollie Saunders

Silly man.

alleycat

Still around

Ollie Saunders

Silly man.

alleycat

Still around

Ollie Saunders

Silly man.

Ellefire

Citizen Of Planet Random

Ollie Saunders

Silly man.

Ellefire

Citizen Of Planet Random

StephanieFox

Maybull the Bulldog

Ollie Saunders

Silly man.