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.'
Some computer software has the feature often called "smart quotes" which can, sometimes imperfectly, convert neutral quotation marks to typographic ones.
[6] (Despite the different code points, the curved and straight versions are sometimes considered multiple glyphs of the same character.
)[7] In the first centuries of typesetting, quotations were distinguished merely by indicating the speaker, and this can still be seen in some editions of the Christian Bible.
During the Renaissance, quotations were distinguished by setting in a typeface contrasting with the main body text (often italic type with roman, or the other way around).
[8] Quotation marks were first cut in metal type during the middle of the sixteenth century, and were used copiously by some printers by the seventeenth.
When this practice was abandoned, the empty margin remained, leaving the modern form of indented block quotation.
They were used to quote direct speech as early as the late sixteenth century, and this practice became more common over time.
The important idea is that the style of opening and closing quotation marks must be matched: 'Good morning, Frank,' said Hal.
Another common use of quotation marks is to indicate or call attention to ironic, dubious, or non-standard words: He shared his "wisdom" with me.
Quotation marks are also used to indicate that the writer realises that a word is not being used in its current commonly accepted sense: 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: Dawkins's concept of a meme could be described as an "evolving idea".
(word) Precise writing about language often uses italics for the word itself and single quotation marks for a gloss, with the two not separated by a comma or other punctuation,[21] and with strictly logical quotation around the gloss – extraneous terminal punctuation outside the quotation marks – even in North American publications, which might otherwise prefer them inside:[22] Latin ovis 'sheep', canis 'dog', and equus 'horse' are nouns.Quotation marks, rather than italics, are generally used for the titles of shorter works.
As a rule, the title of a whole publication is italicised (or, in typewritten text, underlined), 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.)
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Dahl's short story "Taste" in Completely Unexpected Tales Quotation marks can also set off a nickname embedded in an actual name, or a false or ironic title embedded in an actual title; for example, Nat "King" Cole, Frank "Chairman of the Board" Sinatra, or Simone Rizzo "Sam the Plumber" DeCavalcante.
[5] With regard to quotation marks adjacent to periods and commas, there are two styles of punctuation in widespread use.
Both systems have the same rules regarding question marks, exclamation points, colons, and semicolons.
A convention is the use of square brackets to indicate content between the quotation marks that has been modified from, or was not present in, the original material.
[27] Fowler's A Dictionary of Modern English Usage provides an early example of the rule: "All signs of punctuation used with words in quotation marks must be placed according to the sense.
"[28] When dealing with words-as-words, short-form works and sentence fragments, this style places periods and commas outside the quotation marks: "Carefree", in general, means "free from care or anxiety".
[29] Periods and commas that are part of the person's speech are permitted inside the quotation marks regardless of whether the material is fiction.
(regardless) Hart's Rules and the Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors call the British style "new" quoting.
It is also similar to the use of quotation marks in many other languages (including Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Catalan, Dutch and German).
According to the Jargon File from 1983, American hackers (members of a subculture of enthusiastic programmers) switched to what they later discovered to be the British quotation system because placing a period inside a quotation mark can change the meaning of data strings that are meant to be typed character-for-character.
When dealing with words-as-words, short-form works, and sentence fragments, standard American style places periods and commas inside the quotation marks: "Carefree," in general, means "free from care or anxiety."
This style also places periods and commas inside the quotation marks when dealing with direct speech, regardless of whether the work is fiction or non-fiction: "Today," said Cinderella, "I feel free from care and anxiety."
[42] In journals and newspapers, quotation mark double/single use often depends on the individual publication's house style.
Generally, this smart quote feature is enabled by default, and it can be turned off in an "options" or "preferences" dialog.
One can skirt these limitations, however, by using the HTML character codes or entities[43] or the other key combinations in the following table.
In Windows, AutoHotkey scripts can be used to assign simpler key combinations to opening and closing quotation marks.
This method can cause errors, especially for contractions that start with an apostrophe or text with nested quotations: In Windows, if it is necessary to follow a space with a closing quotation mark when Smart Quotes is in effect, it is usually sufficient to input the character using the Alt code shown above rather than typing " or '.