Editing Quotation marks in English (section)

== Usage ==

=== Quotations and speech ===
Single or double quotation marks denote either speech or a quotation. Double quotes are preferred in the United States, and also tend to be preferred in Australia<ref>{{cite web | url=https://davidbrewsterwriter.com/blog/2014/8/19/quote-me-on-this-using-single-and-double-quotation-marks?format=amp | title=Quote me on this: Using single and double quotation marks }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/view/resource/6/ | title=Punctuation Guide &#124; Macquarie Dictionary | date=25 October 2023 }}</ref> (though the Australian Government prefers single quotes)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Australian Government |date=24 October 2022 |title=Quotation marks |url=https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/quotation-marks |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323014522/https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/quotation-marks |archive-date=23 March 2023 |access-date=1 May 2023 |website=Australian Government Style Manual}}</ref> and Canada. Single quotes are more usual in the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa, though double quotes are also common there, especially in {{Clarify|text=journalistic works|date=May 2023}}.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Penguin Guide to Punctuation |last=Trask |first=R. L. |author-link=Larry Trask |page=94 |isbn=9780140513660 |date=1997|publisher=Penguin Books }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Peters |first=Pam |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/73994040 |title=The Cambridge guide to Australian English usage |date=2007 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-87821-0 |edition=2nd |location=Melbourne |oclc=73994040 |page= 670}}</ref> In New Zealand, both styles are used.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.clearlingo.co.nz/blog/new-zealand-english-single-or-double-quote-marks | title=New Zealand English: Single or Double Quotation Marks }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.digital.govt.nz/standards-and-guidance/design-and-ux/content-design-guidance/grammar-and-punctuation/ | title=Grammar and punctuation }}</ref>

A publisher's or author's style may take precedence over regional general preferences. The important idea is that the style of opening and closing quotation marks must be matched:

{{block indent|<poem>'Good morning, Frank,' said Hal.
"Good morning, Frank," said Hal.</poem>}}

For speech within speech, the other style is used as inner quotation marks:

{{block indent|<poem>'Hal said, "Good morning, Dave,{{"'}} recalled Frank.
"Hal said, 'Good morning, Dave,{{'"}} recalled Frank.</poem>}}

Sometimes [[Nested quotation|quotations are nested]] in more levels than inner and outer quotation. Nesting levels up to five can be found in the Christian Bible.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Jeremiah|27:1-11|ESV}}; {{Bibleverse-nb||Jeremiah|29:1-28|ESV}}; {{Bibleverse-nb||Jeremiah|29:30-32|ESV}}; {{Bibleverse-nb||Jeremiah|34:1-5|ESV}}; {{Bibleverse||Ezekiel|27:1-36|ESV}}</ref> In these cases, questions arise about the form (and names) of the quotation marks to be used. The most common way is to simply alternate between the two forms,<ref>{{cite book |last=Stilman |first=Ann |title=Grammatically Correct |date=1997 |page=[https://archive.org/details/grammaticallycor00stil_0/page/181 181] |publisher=F+W Media |isbn=978-0-89879-776-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/grammaticallycor00stil_0/page/181 }}</ref> thus:

{{block indent|{{nowrap|" ... ' ... " ... ' ... ' ... " ... ' ... "}}}}

If such a passage is further quoted in another publication, then all of their forms have to be shifted up by one level.

In many cases, quotations that span multiple [[paragraph]]s are set as [[block quotation]]s, and thus do not require quotation marks. However, quotation marks are used for multiple-paragraph quotations in some cases, especially in [[narrative]]s, where the convention in English is to give opening quotation marks to the first and each subsequent paragraph, using closing quotation marks only for the final paragraph of the quotation, as in the following example from ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'':

{{quote|1=The letter was to this effect:

"My dear Lizzy,

"I wish you joy. If you love Mr. Darcy half as well as I do my dear Wickham, you must be very happy. It is a great comfort to have you so rich, and when you have nothing else to do, I hope you will think of us. I am sure Wickham would like a place at court very much, and I do not think we shall have quite money enough to live upon without some help. Any place would do, of about three or four hundred a year; but however, do not speak to Mr. Darcy about it, if you had rather not.

"Yours, etc."}}

As noted [[Quotation mark#History|above]], in some older texts, the quotation mark is repeated every line, rather than every paragraph.

When quoted text is interrupted, such as with the phrase ''he said'', a closing quotation mark is used before the interruption, and an opening quotation mark after. [[Comma]]s are also often used before and after the interruption, more often for quotations of speech than for quotations of text:

{{block indent|"Everything", said Hal, "is going extremely well."}}

Quotation marks are not used for [[indirect speech]]. This is because indirect speech can be a [[paraphrase]]; it is not a direct quote, and in the course of any composition, it is important to document when one is using a quotation versus when one is just giving content, which may be paraphrased, and which could be open to interpretation.

For example, if Hal says: "All systems are functional", then, in indirect speech:

{{block indent|1=<poem>
''Incorrect'': Hal said that "everything was going extremely well".
''Correct'': Hal said that everything was going extremely well.
</poem>}}

=== Irony ===
{{Main|Scare quotes}}
Another common use of quotation marks is to indicate or call attention to [[Irony|ironic]], dubious, or non-standard words:

{{block indent|1=<poem>
He shared his "wisdom" with me.
The lunch lady plopped a glob of "food" onto my tray.
He complained about too many "gummint" regulations.
</poem>}}

Quotes indicating verbal irony, or other special use, are sometimes called [[scare quotes]]. They are sometimes [[gesture]]d in oral speech using [[air quotes]], or indicated in speech with a tone change or by replacement with ''supposed[ly]'' or ''so-called''.

=== Signalling unusual usage ===
Quotation marks are also used to indicate that the writer realises that a word is not being used in its current commonly accepted sense:
{{block indent|Crystals somehow "know" which shape to grow into.}}

In addition to conveying a neutral attitude and to call attention to a [[neologism]], or [[slang]], or special terminology (also known as [[jargon]]), quoting can also indicate words or phrases that are ''descriptive'' but unusual, colloquial, folksy, startling, humorous, metaphoric, or contain a [[pun]]: [[Richard Dawkins|Dawkins's]] concept of a [[meme]] could be described as an "evolving idea".

People also use quotation marks in this way to distance the writer from the terminology in question so as not to be associated with it, for example to indicate that a quoted word is not official terminology, or that a quoted phrase presupposes things that the author does not necessarily agree with; or to indicate special terminology that should be identified for accuracy's sake as someone else's terminology, as when a term (particularly a controversial term) pre-dates the writer or represents the views of someone else, perhaps without judgement (contrast this neutrally distancing quoting to the negative use of [[scare quotes]]).

''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'', 17th edition (2017),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part2/ch07/psec057.html |title=The Chicago Manual of Style Online |edition=17th |date=2017 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |access-date=21 December 2018 |at=Section 7.57 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> acknowledges this type of use but, in section 7.57, cautions against its overuse: "Quotation marks are often used to alert readers that a term is used in a nonstandard (or slang), ironic, or other special sense .... [T]hey imply 'This is not my term,' or 'This is not how the term is usually applied.' Like any such device, [[scare quotes]] lose their force and irritate readers if overused."

=== Use–mention distinction ===
{{Main|Use–mention distinction|Metalanguage}}

Either quotation marks or [[italic type]] can emphasise that an instance of a word refers to [[use–mention distinction|the word itself]] rather than its associated concept.

{{block indent|1=<poem>
Cheese is derived from milk.<!--not italicised or quoted--> (concept)
"Cheese" is derived from a word in Old English. (word)
Cheese has calcium, protein, and phosphorus.<!--not italicised or quoted--> (concept)
''Cheese'' has three ''E''<nowiki />s. (word)
</poem>}}

==== In linguistics ====
Precise writing about language often uses italics for [[Words as words|the word itself]] and single quotation marks for a [[Gloss (annotation)|gloss]], with the two not separated by a comma or other punctuation,<ref>"Style Sheet", ''[[Language Acquisition (journal)|Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics]]'', (undated), [https://www.tandf.co.uk//journals/authors/style/hlac-style-guide.pdf p. 2]</ref> and with strictly [[#Logical quotation|logical quotation]] around the gloss&nbsp;– extraneous terminal punctuation ''outside'' the quotation marks – even in North American publications, which might otherwise prefer them inside:<ref name="LSA-LSS">{{cite web |title=''Language'' Style Sheet |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=[[Language (journal)|Language]] |date=2015 |publisher=[[Linguistic Society of America]] |location=Washington, DC |access-date=21 December 2018 |url= http://www.linguisticsociety.org/sites/default/files/LANGUAGE_journal_style_sheet.pdf  |quote=4. Punctuation: a. ... The second member of a pair of quotation marks should precede any other adjacent mark of punctuation, unless the other mark is a necessary part of the quoted matter .... 6. Cited Forms: ... e. After the first occurrence of non-English forms, provide a gloss in single quotation marks:  Latin ''ovis'' ‘sheep’ is a noun.  No comma precedes the gloss and no comma follows, unless necessary for other reasons: Latin ''ovis'' ‘sheep’, ''canis'' ‘dog’, and ''equus'' ‘horse’ are nouns.}}</ref>
{{quote|1={{sic|hide=y|1=Latin ''ovis'' 'sheep', ''canis'' 'dog', and ''equus'' 'horse' are nouns.|reason=This example is a quotation from the source, not a made-up example; do not modify it.}}}}

=== Titles of artistic works ===
Quotation marks, rather than italics, are generally used for the titles of shorter works. Whether these are single or double depends on the context; however, many styles, especially for poetry, prefer the use of single quotation marks.
* Short fiction, poetry, etc.: [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s "The Sentinel"
* Book chapters: The first chapter of ''3001: The Final Odyssey'' is "Comet Cowboy"
* Articles in books, magazines, journals, etc.: "Extra-Terrestrial Relays", ''Wireless World'', October 1945
* Album tracks, singles, etc.: [[David Bowie]]'s "[[Space Oddity]]"

As a rule, the title of a whole publication is [[italic type|italicised]] (or, in typewritten text, [[underline]]d), whereas the titles of minor works within or a subset of the larger publication (such as poems, short stories, named chapters, journal papers, newspaper articles, TV show episodes, video game levels, editorial sections of websites, etc.) are written with quotation marks.
{{block indent|1=<poem>
Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet''
Dahl's short story "Taste" in ''Completely Unexpected Tales''
</poem>}}

=== Nicknames and false titles ===
Quotation marks can also set off a [[nickname]] embedded in an actual name, or a false or [[irony|ironic]] title embedded in an actual title; for example, [[Nat "King" Cole]], [[Frank Sinatra|Frank "Chairman of the Board" Sinatra]], or [[Sam DeCavalcante|Simone Rizzo "Sam the Plumber" DeCavalcante]].

=== Nonstandard usage ===
Quotes are sometimes used for [[emphasis (typography)|emphasis]] in lieu of underlining or italics, most commonly on signs or placards. This usage can be confused with ironic or altered-usage quotation, sometimes with unintended humor. For example, ''For sale: "fresh" fish, "fresh" oysters'', could be construed to imply that ''fresh'' is not used with its everyday meaning, or indeed to indicate that the fish or oysters are anything but fresh. As another example, ''Cashiers' desks open until noon for your "convenience"'' could be interpreted to mean that the convenience was for the bank employees, not the customers.<ref name="LanguageLog" />