MSGID: 1:153/716.0 cff26741   
   REPLY: 2:221/6.0 5cf95892   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:   
      
   AH>  When she complained to my mother, my mother answered   
   AH>  "How would the doctor know if you were turning blue   
   AK>  with that stuff on?" :-))   
      
   AK>  Ahem ;), besides the absence of the comma before the   
   AK>  quotation marks, I wanna remark again that inside of   
   AK>  those marks there is the direct speech.  So,   
   AK>  theoretically, it should be either   
      
   AK>  My mother answered, "How will the doctor know if you   
   AK>  are turning blue with that stuff on?"   
      
   AK>  or (as the indirect speech)   
      
   AK>  My mother answered her that the doctor would not know   
   aK>  if she was turning blue with that stuff on.   
      
      
             I see two questions here... one regarding my punctuation & the other   
   regarding verb tenses.   
      
    1)  Yes, it's more traditional to use a comma when introducing a direct quote   
        as I did above.  There's also a growing trend, however... particularly in   
        North America... to reserve commas for situations in which they're needed   
        for clarity.  With formal writing I would adhere to established practice.   
      
    2)  IIRC I'm quoting exactly what my mother said.  This event occurred a long   
        time ago, but my mother was a stickler for correctness & I think what she   
        probably had in mind was what might have happened while her room mate was   
        on the operating table if the nurse hadn't intervened.  I see speculation   
        in both the direct & indirect versions... but since I wasn't present when   
        the incident occurred I can't be sure whether my mother commented before,   
        during, or after the makeup removal.  I may be thinking in the past tense   
        because when I arrived this woman was still awaiting surgery although the   
        other events I heard about had already taken place.  Give yourself a gold   
        star for noticing details which I may have overlooked in both cases.  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)   
   SEEN-BY: 1/19 123 15/2 16/0 57/0 120/544 123/130 131 153/250 203/0   
   SEEN-BY: 220/70 221/0 1 6 360 226/17 229/354 426 1014 240/1120 2100   
   SEEN-BY: 240/5138 5832 5853 249/206 317 261/38 267/800 280/5003 310/31   
   SEEN-BY: 317/3 320/119 219 322/0 757 342/200 393/68 460/58 633/267   
   SEEN-BY: 640/1321 1384 712/620 848 886 770/0 1 10 100 340 772/0 1   
   SEEN-BY: 772/500 2454/119 3634/12   
   PATH: 153/7715 250 770/1 712/848 640/1384 221/1 320/219 240/5832   
   PATH: 229/426