As in the title, what does a quoted section in a name mean? Names like John “James” Doe (not someone’s name) Answer This usually refers to a nickname, or something that other people might call that person that isn’t their given name. So in the example you gave, that person’s formal given name is John, … Read more
In quotations and other similar contexts, I often see [sic] included used to mean I am quoting this verbatim, they made a mistake here. I am not sure if there is a general category for this kind of a term so I can’t search for this but I’d be interested to know if there is. … Read more
The common usage I have been exposed to is that punctuation should only be in a quotation if it’s contained in the original source. So what if your quotation ends in a period and your quotation is also the end of your sentence. Do you need two periods? I asked my son to visit his … Read more
I know you have to write out numbers less than 10. However, if you’re quoting a source that doesn’t do so, do you need to write [sic] after each number less than 10 that isn’t written out? For example, should “nationwide, 25.4% of students got 8 or more hours of sleep on an average school … Read more
I’ve seen two ways to introduce direction quotations: 1) The host made an announcement, “You are all staying for dinner.” 2) The host made an announcement: “You are all staying for dinner.” Is one more correct than the other? Is it a matter of style? The only thing I can find on it is that … Read more
I have seen many sentences/words in quotes like “this” instead of “this”. Here’s one from K&R: In 1983, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established a committee whose goal was to produce “an unambiguous and machine-independent definition of the language C”, while still retaining its spirit. I have seen this especially more in text written … Read more
Suppose that Eve said (in spoken English) An apple a day keeps the doctor away, unquote. Also isn’t Eve such a great person? Like my mom always said quote Eve is the best person ever, much better than that Alice person Now let us say that Bob wants to tell Alice what Eve said. Naively, … Read more
Could someone please tell me if I’ve correctly punctuated the following sentence (specifically, if I’ve correctly used the dash and commas highlighted bloew)? Also, is the period at the end of the word “voice” better served by a comma or semicolon? My partner and I had been patrolling the Rideau Canal Skateway—a nearly 8 km … Read more
She told me “take me out,” “let’s travel together,” and “I love ice cream.” or She told me “take me out”, “let’s travel together”, and “I love ice cream”. I always assumed that commas go inside the quotations mark, but perhaps there are specific rules to specific contexts. Help me out 🙂 Answer It depends … Read more
I’ve done some research, both on this SE and off, but I can’t find an answer to my unique problem. So I apologize in advance if this is a duplicate and I just missed something. I’m dealing with a situation in my writing where a speaker begins a quotation with a single quote. Having a … Read more
