- Wrong:
- "Will you come? she pleaded.
- Certainly."
- Right:
- "Will you come," she pleaded.
- "Certainly."
- Wrong: He replied, "It was not for my own sake that I did this." "There were others whom I had to consider." "I can mention no names."
- Right: He replied, "It was not for my own sake that I did this. There were others whom I had to consider. I can mention no names."
[d.] Quotation marks may be used with technical terms, with slang introduced into formal writing, or with nicknames; but not with merely elevated diction, with good English that resembles slang, with nicknames that have practically become proper names, or with fictitious names from literature.
- Permissible: The rime is called a "feminine rime". He is really "a corker". Their name for my friend was "Sissy".
- Better without the quotation marks: He was awed by "the grandeur of the mountains". "A humbug". "Fetch". "Stonewall" Jackson. He was a true "Rip Van Winkle".
[e.] Either quotation marks or italics may be used with words to which special attention is called. (See the examples under [91e, Exception, 3].) Quotation marks are used with the titles of articles, of chapters in books, of individual short poems, and the like. Italics are used with the titles of books or of periodicals, with the names of ships, and with foreign words which are still felt to be emphatically foreign.
[f.] A quotation within a quotation should be enclosed in single quotation marks; a quotation within that, in double marks.
- Right: "It required courage," the speaker said, "for a man to affirm in those days: 'I endorse every word of Patrick Henry's sentiment, "Give me liberty, or give me death!"'"
[g.] When a word is followed by both a quotation mark and a question mark or an exclamation point, the question mark or the exclamation point should come first if it applies to the quotation; last, if it applies to the main sentence.
- Wrong: He shouted but one command, "Give them the bayonet"!
- Right: He shouted but one command, "Give them the bayonet!"
- Wrong: Did Savonarola say, "I recant?"
- Right: Did Savonarola say, "I recant"?
[Note.]—Regarding the position of a comma, semicolon, or period at the end of a quotation, usage differs. Printers ordinarily place commas and periods inside the quotation marks, and semicolons outside, from considerations of spacing. But logic, not spacing, should determine the order, and all three marks should be treated alike. They should be placed within the quotation marks if they were a part of the original quotation; otherwise outside. In quoting manuscript, the quotation marks should enclose exactly what is in the original. In quoting oral discourse, a certain liberty is necessarily allowed.
- Correct: He said calmly, "It is I."
- Also correct, but not commonly used: He said calmly, "It is I".
- Correct, and in common use, but slightly illogical: He began, "Our Father which art in heaven." [The period should follow the quotation mark, since there is no period in the original quotation.]
- Correct, and in common use, but slightly illogical: Can you tell me the difference between "apt," "likely," and "liable"; between "noted" and "notorious"?
- Also correct: Can you tell me the difference between "apt", "likely", and "liable"; between "noted" and "notorious"?