Fine-Tuning 9, Quotation Marks with Other Punctuation

"Good," said Andrew. "He seldom is."
(Did Andrew say "Good"?)

Yes, "Good" you said,

'loud and clear'.

Let's not get into single vs. double quote marks... I think that's a whole other horse-color!

Wy, Single quotation marks--a horse of another color. Roan or pinto, perhaps.

The rules are the same.

She said to me, "I couldn't understand what he was saying until he said, 'It was a dream.'"

Very good, Roboita. Have you ever noticed that some British writers tend to do it 'backwards'? The double quotes will go inside single quotes and single quotes will be preferred for regular use. Don't know why. Americans always use double quotes as a default.

Maybe it's because we always tend to overdo. Or maybe it's our tendency to think that more is better. Or maybe I'm getting far too carried away on the subject.

Yes, Andy, I've noticed.

Had I been inclined to doubt Roberta's position on this subject (perish the thought), my doubts would have been put to rest by the review, in this week's New Yorker, of the new (15th) edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. The review says of the Manual:

"The authors are straightforward on two matters that many students are apparently hardwired at birth to find mindboggling: whether periods and commas belong inside or outside quotation marks, and whether inverted commas (sometimes called "single quotation marks") are an appropriate way to indicate an "ironic" usage. (Inside and no.)"

The review, which was written by Louis Menand, is brilliantly funny and deserves to be read in full. It's in the October 6 issue of the New Yorker, and can also be found online at:

New Yorker review of the Chicago Manual of Style

Thanks for the link and the affirmation, Bree. You doubted me? I'm shocked. I'm stunned. I'm devastated.