I'll rescind my answer and concur with Janet and LeAnne. I will also order an updated edition of Morson's!

LeAnne, Thank you for giving me the reference to the rule.

Janiece

I was taught this format specifically in court reporting school in L.A. 

Q. Now, Jones Company maintains some information online -- correct? -- on computers?

 I use the same format with "correct," "true," and "right" or even "is that correct."  And when these phrases are at the end of a question, I place a semicolon beforehand.  (And I chalk a lot of this up to style and readbility as opposed to a hardcore rule.  I had to change numerous things once I switched to court reporting from PR/AP style.  Most people don't even use two spaces after a period anymore.  It's considered an egregious error for computer users.)  

HELP!   This is my problem:

Well, Mr. Lowy says, "We did come out 'guns-a-blazin'.'"

They are quoting a document that has guns-a-blazin' in quotes.  There's an apostrophe after the blazin' to show that it drops the g.  So it's a quote within a quote.

I have the apostrophe to show the dropped g, then I have the punctuation, then single quote, then double quote.  It certainly doesn't look good, but I think that's right.  Any ideas?

I agree with you--it's not pretty, but it looks correct!

Thanks, Jody!

Would you cap the word mule?

A.  It was an ATV mule?

Thanks,

Janiece

Janiece,

I looked it up online and it appears that it is actually a style or a model of ATV.  Yamaha has them,Kawasaki has them, etc.  So I would cap it.

Hey, Audrey, that's what I was thinking too when I Googled it.  Thanks for the help.

Janiece

Would you augment the bladder with ilium or ileum?

Ileum.

The ileum is the final section of the small intestine.

The ilium is the uppermost and largest bone of the pelvis.

How would one punctuate "like say"?

For example:

I've been a consultant for, like say, 25 years.

OR

I've been a consultant for, like, say, 25 years.

OR yet . . .

I've been a consultant for like, say, 25 years.

I can count how many witnesses have used "like say" in all my years of reporting: two.  Ugh.  :(

Since Morson's says not to use commas around "like" if it's used to mean about or around,

I've been a consultant for like, say, 25 years.

How should the hyphens be placed on this?

Thx,

Janiece

A. Depending on the time of the year I believe they started out kind of a yellowish, sick-looking color and then purplish, brown.

You have the underlined part exactly right. You should also delete the comma after "purplish."

Yes, you are right, Judy.  Thx.

Janiece

Morris's Rule 51 says to use a pair of commas to set off the titles, academic degrees, etc., that follow personal names or company names:
     Guerin, Inc., was awarded the contract.

On the other hand, if there is no comma in the company name, no comma would be used:

     Time Inc. is being sued.

How would you write this:

eight or ten or twelve hours

eight or 10 or 12 hours

8 or 10 or 12 hours

Thx!

Quyen, I think for readability I make it all words or all figures.  I think it's more pleasing to the eye to pick one or the other.

Thanks, Janiece. I agree. I originally have it as "eight or ten or twelve hours," so I'll just leave it.

I don't know if that's a hard-and-fast rule but that's what I was taught in school.  :-)

Yeah, I don't think I ever remember it being a rule, either, but I do remember seeing or hearing somewhere about being consistent with it, and it is easier on the eyes. :)

Rule 170: Generally, numbers from one to ten are spelled out when they are isolated and do not relate to age, date, money, percent, fractions, measurements, or any other specific reference.

So in this case I believe you would want to use numbers ("8 or 10 or 12 hours"); however, I don't think this is one of those "hard and fast" rules!

Okay, I'll go with 8 or 10 or 12 since there are two two-digit numbers, and one 8.  Thx, Cindy. :)

Does the period go inside or outside of the closing parenthesis?

Thanks.

A. (Indicating).

Hi Janiece! 

My two cents:  In this case, I'd put it inside because it is a statement in and of itself, not a parenthetical within a statement.  For example:

A  That's her over there (indicating).

or, as in your example:

A  (Indicating.)

Thanks, Yvette and Cindy.  I appreciate it.  That's what I thought, but I wanted to be sure.

I have to admit I'm stumped on this one:

Q    Is there any provision that you're aware of in this contract that would impact the board of trustees ability to reduce the course load of a faculty member?

board of trustees' ability?

board of trustees's ability?

board of trustees ability?

If you heard the double s at the end, then add the s's; otherwise, it's board of trustees' ability. 

I agree with LeAnne.

Question - I have scoured the internet and my reference books and I can't seem to find the answer.  I'll take a poll and go with it.  When speaking of an adjuster/adjustor, which one is correct?  I've seen it both ways. Now I'm totally confused!  Please help!

M-w.com shows it as "adjuster." 

one that adjusts; especially: an insurance agent who investigates personal or property damage and makes estimates for effecting settlements

I use adjuster for everything. 

They're listed as synonyms on dictionary.com, but I think adjuster is the more common usage.

"Adjustor" is listed as a variant in M-W. I prefer it to "adjuster," although both are correct.

Would you capitalize "Ecstasy" when they are referring to the street drug X?

Thanks,

Janiece

Thanks to all of you for your help!  Much appreciated.

Janiece - I see that most of the time it's ecstasy in lowercase.

I think capitalizing it would be like saying it is a brand name, which it isn't, so I vote no.  :)

I think I would capitalize it.  It's capped along with the common or street names listed on drugs.com.

http://www.drugs.com/ecstasy.html

I googled insurance claims adjuster and insurance claims adjustor, and it comes up as "adjuster," with the definition, and I think I've always used adjuster.

That's the site I'm on, but they are showing it as

Medical Term:

ecstasy

Seems like they really can't make up their minds!  :)

Then I stand corrected.  I was in the consumer information. 

And then I find this on m-w.com.  Good grief!

Doesn't seem to matter!  I must honestly say, though, that before I looked it up, I was leaning towards capping it.  Probably because I've seen it that way most often.

Thanks, Ladies!!!  :-)

Thanks, Rosalie.  I think it is proper adjuster, my computer dictionary shows it as wrong when I type adjustor, but I know it is also used as a "term of art" in the insurance field.  YOWZA!  How can this language be so difficult??

I have a case I'm working on and she says, the hood a lot.  You wouldn't capitalize the hood, would you?

Thx

"The hood" is short for "the neighborhood." I wouldn't cap it, but I would write it as "the 'hood."