Q. Hi—I seem to remember in an earlier edition of the CMOS that, if parenthetical material ended in a period, the final period of the sentence should be omitted, even if the rules would otherwise require it. Here’s an example:
She prepared all the Thanksgiving dishes (turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc.)
She prepared all the Thanksgiving dishes (turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc.).
A co-worker has insisted that the second example is correct and has scoffed at me for suggesting that the first example is preferred. Did I deserve the scoffing? Please do not tell me to omit the “etc.” whenever possible, because this will not be an option in most cases.
A. The scoffer is right. A sentence needs punctuation at the end, and it can’t appear within the parentheses unless the entire sentence is contained in the parentheses. Version 2 is correct.