Editing Quotation marks in English (section)

{{short description|Usage of punctuation}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2021}}<!-- see talk and WP:RETAIN, WP:ARTCON -->
{{Infobox punctuation mark|mark=“&nbsp;” |name=Double typographic quotes|variant-size=400% |
variant1=‘&nbsp;’ |caption1=Single typographic quotes |variant2="&nbsp;"
|caption2=Neutral double quotes |variant3='&nbsp;' |caption3=Neutral single quotes}}

In [[English language|English]] writing, [[quotation mark]]s or inverted commas, also known informally as quotes, talking marks,<ref>{{cite book |last=Lunsford |first=Susan |title=100 skill-building lessons using 10 favorite books : a teacher's treasury of irresistible lessons & activities that help children meet learning goals in reading, writing, math and more |date=December 2001 |page=10 |publisher=Scholastic |isbn=0439205794}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hayes |first=Andrea |title=Language Toolkit for New Zealand 2, Volume 2 |date=April 2011 |page=17 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1107624702}}</ref> speech marks,<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Barber |editor-first=Katherine |title=[[Canadian Oxford Dictionary]] |edition=2nd |date=2005 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=0-19-541816-6}}</ref> quote marks, quotemarks or speechmarks, are [[Punctuation|punctuation marks]] placed on either side of a word or phrase in order to identify it as a [[quotation]], [[direct speech]] or a [[Literal and figurative language|literal]] title or name. Quotation marks may be used to indicate that the meaning of the word or phrase they surround should be taken to be different from (or, at least, a modification of) that typically associated with it, and are often used in this way to express [[irony]] (for example, in the sentence 'The lunch lady plopped a glob of "food" onto my tray.' the quotation marks around the word ''food'' show it is being called that ironically). They are also sometimes used to emphasise a word or phrase, although this is usually considered incorrect. <ref>{{cite book |author=Jeremy Butterfield |date=2015 |title=Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=680 |isbn=978-0-19-966135-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AvmzBgAAQBAJ}}</ref><ref name="LanguageLog">{{cite web |last=Zwicky |first=Arnold |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002796.html |title=Dubious Quotation Marks |website=itre.cis.upenn.edu |date=29 January 2006 |access-date=21 December 2018}}</ref> 

Quotation marks are written as a pair of opening and closing marks in either of two styles: {{nowrap|single (‘...’)}} or {{nowrap|double (“...”)}}. Opening and closing quotation marks may be identical in form (called neutral, vertical, straight, typewriter, or "[[typographic approximation|dumb]]" quotation marks), or may be distinctly left-handed and right-handed (typographic or, colloquially, curly quotation marks); {{crossref|see {{section link|Quotation mark#Summary table}} for details}}. Typographic quotation marks are usually used in [[manuscript]] and [[typeset]] text. Because typewriter and computer keyboards lack keys to directly enter typographic quotation marks, much of typed writing has neutral quotation marks. Some computer software has the feature often called "smart quotes" which can, sometimes imperfectly, convert neutral quotation marks to typographic ones.

The typographic closing double quotation mark and the neutral double quotation mark are similar to{{snd}} and sometimes stand in for{{snd}} the [[ditto mark]] and the [[double prime|double prime symbol]]. Likewise, the typographic opening single quotation mark is sometimes used to represent the [[ʻokina]] while either the typographic closing single quotation mark or the neutral single quotation mark may represent the [[Prime (symbol)|prime symbol]]. Characters with different meanings are typically given different visual appearance in typefaces that recognize these distinctions, and they each have different [[Unicode#Architecture and terminology|Unicode code points]]. Despite being semantically different, the typographic closing single quotation mark and the typographic [[apostrophe]] have the same visual appearance and code point (U+2019), as do the neutral single quote and typewriter apostrophe (U+0027).<ref>[https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part2/ch06/psec117.html "Smart" apostrophes] ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style|The Chicago Manual of Style Online]]'' (17th ed.). Part 2, Chapter 6.117. Retrieved 3 January 2019. Subscription required (free trial available).</ref> (Despite the different code points, the curved and straight versions are sometimes considered multiple [[glyph]]s of the same character.)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pubcom.com/blog/2013_12-03/unicode-accessibility.html#solution2|last=Chagnon|first=Bevi|title=Fonts, Typography, and Accessibility|date=December 2013|access-date=3 January 2019}}</ref>