Literals: Are sometimes done as `literal' or ``literal''. I sometimes
use `emphasis', just like you did:
Indeed. The rules in style guides for this kind of thing are
disappointingly contradictory.
This is also why we should probably distance ourselves from wanting to
do serious generic or generalized markup except in applications and from
wanting to do serious procedural/formatting markup entirely on a
universal mail interchange basis.
If one sits down with serious typographical and graphic design style
manuals, one finds disagreements (especially between US and UK
conventions--and that involves what is supposedly the same language).
The most one can hope for is consistency within a given text. The less
complex we make things, the more likely display engines are to be able
to produce things that are locally sensible (both in terms of local
devices and in term of local aesthetics). And the fewer different
conventions we think we need to standardize, the more likely we are to
be able to reach useful consensus on them.
john