Quotation Marks

'... then put your little hand in mine, there ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb.... I got you babe! I got you babe! (music fades out). Ok Campers, rise and shine and don't forget your booties, 'cause it's cold out there...' Yes, we have reached another episode in the ongoing saga of 'Why on Earth Doesn't the English Language Have Universal Rules?' It just doesn't. Even within America, within the UK etc. there are conflicting style guides. What we need to aim for is internal consistency. To achieve this, I recommend that you make sure your diet contains lots of fibre and that you follow these rules for using quotation marks.

1 The British Style

1.1 Single Quotation Marks

As usual we will be following the generally accepted British English way of doings things. Most British style guides tell you to use single quotation marks in most instances.

1.2 Quotation Marks Within Quotation Marks

Now, ‘the big question on everybody’s lips… on their chapped lips’ is, what do you do if you have to use quotations marks within quotation marks? It is easy - in that case, you use double quotation marks. And if you need to use quotation marks within quotations marks within quotation marks, you can use single ones again.

The Americans do this backwards of course.

1.3 Other Punctuation and Quotation Marks

Now, this is where things get completely odd. Neither the most commonly used American or British systems are consistent or make any sense. If I were submitting texts that I have written to a snooty editor in either country, brows would be furrowed, throats would be harrumphed and changes would be made! We are however trying to aim for an international audience, and can't hope to please every different style guide out there anyway. Therefore use this following rule of thumb:

When it comes to the interaction of quotation marks - there are so many conflicting rules, that I am going to say 'go with your gut feeling'. Does it make sense? Does it look aesthetically pleasing? Then it will probably be ok. If you are still not sure, re-read this article again and again and again and.... or ask me: chris.potter@ilias.de

2 When to Use Quotation Marks?

2.1 General Usage

Generally speaking we use quotation marks when dealing with:

2.2 Usage Special to ILIAS

There are many cases in ILIAS where you might want to stress a word - in instructions, test cases, bylines etc. I find it very useful, emphasising the label of any button that should be clicked on. For example: Check the Manage Custom Metadata box and then click on Save. As you can see, the nicest way of doing this is using bold or italics. However, this is apparently not always possible or wanted. My understanding is that because the flux capacitor can't fully interface with the Heisenberg compensators and you can't reach FTL speeds without using the permalink, Developer says 'no' (at least that is what I understood - but then I never listen properly, ask my wife). In such cases do not think 'Ned? Ned Ryerson?', think 'I could use quotation marks instead'.