On 3/16/2012 9:08 AM, Neil Cerutti wrote:
A grammarian always uses complete sentence before a colon, even when introducing a list.
The Chicago Manual of Style*, 13th edition, says "The colon is used to mark a discontinuity of grammatical construction greater than that indicated by the semicolon and less than that indicated by the period."
While most of the examples in that section have what would be a complete sentence before the colon, not all do. Not in that section is this, from the Table of Contents: "Documentation: References, Notes, and Bibliographies". Here are a couple more from their Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data: "Rev. ed. of: A manual of style." and "Bibliography: p.". And in letters: "To:", "From:", and "Date:"
*A major style guide for general American writing and publication: used by some as the 'Bible'.
-- Terry Jan Reedy -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
