The safest strategy for lazy humans: rewrite the sentence. Seriously. Instead of worrying about punctuation geography, just rephrase. Change “He asked, ‘Did you see the cat?’” to “Did he really ask that about the cat?” Boom—no more question mark drama. Or use italics for the quote: He asked, did you see the cat? It’s not proper, but proper is overrated when you’re just trying to finish a post.
A Final, Weirdly Reassuring Thought
Here’s a secret that editors whisper in dark rooms: even pros mess this up. I once saw a New York Times article where the question mark was both inside and outside in the same paragraph. The editor’s coffee was probably too cold. So cut yourself some slack. If you put the question mark inside when it should be outside, you’ll live. But if you want to look like a genius at parties, memorize this: “When quoting a question, keep the mark inside. When asking about a quote, toss it outside.” Now go forth and punctuate like the chaotic legend you are.
