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Regarding the following expression, we can realize that the period character is of dual functionality in its nature: partly denoting the abbreviation, partly being used to end the sentence.

I like rideable animals such as donkeys, horsies, cowsies etc.

Now, if we reconstruct the sentence in the following way, we'll be forced to use separate period characters for each of the functions and it looks pretty weird, at least to me. I wonder if it's the correct usage at all and what a correct alternative might be.

I like rideable animals (donkeys, horsies, cowsies etc.).

Please note that I'm not in any way asking about how to express the thought contained in the example nor that how to circumvent the situation (by rephrasing it as two different sentences or such).

RegDwigнt
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Konrad Viltersten
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  • Both example sentences are punctuated correctly. And do not look weird in the least. Also, what's this to do with grammar? This has nothing at all to do with grammar. – RegDwigнt Jul 31 '15 at 09:00
  • @RegDwigнt The combination period-parenthesis-period looks very weird to me. Am I in a vast minority on that? In such case, I have no further problems with that. As for the grammar, I thought it was about grammatical correctness, hence the choice of the tag. If you feel that there's a better one, please feel welcome to make use of the edit link. I'll be happy to improve my question by any means possible. – Konrad Viltersten Jul 31 '15 at 09:06
  • There are online resources that cover this. Try googling *etc punctuation* - here's an example http://www.editage.com/insights/research-paper-comma-after-etc-at-the-end-of-a-sentence – chasly - supports Monica Jul 31 '15 at 09:19
  • @chaslyfromUK I don't think the link is exactly relevant as it's not discussing the case with parenthesis between the periods. However, they give that as an example, without actually stating it explicitly (which can mean that it's so obviously correct but also that they just discuss something else). – Konrad Viltersten Jul 31 '15 at 09:24
  • I've added a couple tags. By the way, we might have actually discussed this in the past which would make this question a dupe. I'll search around when I have a spare minute. – RegDwigнt Jul 31 '15 at 09:31
  • @RegDwigнt Please do. I'm always keen on improving my google-fu and I haven't found that particular question (at least not asked so explicitly). The re-tagification's great, thanks for that. – Konrad Viltersten Jul 31 '15 at 09:33
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    Now everything's looking wrong to me :) I'll try to find a better example? – W9WBH Jul 31 '15 at 09:39
  • I see there are several questions on this site already that address this. I will withdraw my answer, especially since I can't find my old style book -that I used to swear by. – W9WBH Jul 31 '15 at 10:12

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