I got in a heated debate about this with a technical writing instructor. Namely, I was ending a question with a quote along the lines of
> Why did Jake believe the AI was “going to kill us all”?
The instructor wanted me to put the question mark of the outer sentence within the quotation marks despite the quoted text not containing a question mark.
> Why did Jake believe the AI was “going to kill us all?”
I felt like doing so changed the meaning of the quote, and it felt like a misrepresentation. This being the “correct” way to do it has always irritated me.
I ended up rewording the sentence so it wouldn’t end with the quotation, and have just actively avoided ending sentences in quotes ever since.
> Why did Jake believe the AI was “going to kill us all”?
The instructor wanted me to put the question mark of the outer sentence within the quotation marks despite the quoted text not containing a question mark.
> Why did Jake believe the AI was “going to kill us all?”
I felt like doing so changed the meaning of the quote, and it felt like a misrepresentation. This being the “correct” way to do it has always irritated me.
I ended up rewording the sentence so it wouldn’t end with the quotation, and have just actively avoided ending sentences in quotes ever since.