How to use quotation marks | Not guillemets, but who’s William?
Double quotation marks are older than single quotation marks, which came about around the 1800s in the UK. Double quotation marks originated in the 15th century as a way to indicate important text in manuscripts, and over time they became the way we indicate direct quotes.
There are various styles of mark to indicate quotes, from the well-known 6699 format in western “English” texts through to guillemets in French. Wait, “guillemets”? Sorry, «guillemets». Yep—that basically translates to «Williams», and I’m here for it.
They’re supposedly named after the French printer Guillaume Le Bé, who somehow got credit for them when really it was grammar pedant Josse Bade who first printed them in a book. How «cool» for Guilly. What’s even «cooler» is that the Irish term for them is Liamóg, after the shortened nickname Liam.
I actually fully think that’s a cool fact. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Anway, style stuff.
Use quotation marks to indicate speech or direct quotes
When quoting direct speech or text, offset the statement using double quotation marks and provide attribution. Typically, British style uses single, then double quotation marks, but generally most everywhere else use double.
Laquifa said it was a “good job” but the colors are “all wrong”.
“They use buffalo mozzarella and burrata on their pizzas,” according to Jenny C, and it’s the “best Italian restaurant” she’s ever been to.
“I have a dream…” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
“David—stop the car,” Jackson said.
If you omit anything from the quote use an ellipsis with a space after it.
Mr Bojangles noted various rules for his hostel, including: “smiling at the sun with your eyes closed, nodding at the elderly… and stopping to think before you speak.”
The park has lots to do, including “a botanical garden that’s filled with roses and tulips… and there’s even a tennis court,” according to Shonda.
When quoting within a quote, use single quotation marks. Rephrase sentences that end with a possessive apostrophe or a single quotation mark and double quotation marks—it looks awkward, even if fine grammatically.
Mary told me, “Janet was incandescent—she kept saying ‘I won’t have it, Mary’ and kicked the watering can.” It sounds like she might have been cross.
Don’t put the ellipsis in brackets. I recommend using no spaces before and one space after use. Only ever use three dots, unless you end the sentence with ellipses—in this instance, add the full stop at the end.
Lucy told me she had many favourite things, including: “Books, music, ideas, colours, toys, sweets, flowers, stars, especially shooting stars….” The list wasn’t endless, but it was long.
Other uses for quotation marks include:
To indicate the title of a short or subsidiary work, e.g. a chapter.
“In the Woods” is where things start getting really good in Watership Down.
Scare quotes for emphasis, often to show sarcasm.
The “critics” think it’s a great film, but I disagree.
He’s a “professional” writer.
When referring to a word as a word, if the placement doesn’t allow for italics. (Typically, italics would be used to refer to words or letters as themselves, but this might go against your style guide—in UX/UI, for example.)
Make the world a more “you” kind of place.
