Conference thebay::joyoflex

    I guess the best way to check this out would be to look at different
    language editions of _Lord_Jim_.  The quotation nesting gets pretty
    exciting in there.
    
    						Ann B.
    
    P.S.  People who use single quotes on the outside go to double quotes
    on the inside.

    The main reason to use the single quote on the outside is to avoid
    having to use the shift key, since many keyboards have the
    single-quote character on the same key as the double-quote
    character. 
    
    --bonnie

    I thought the main reason to use the single quote on the outside is
    that it is English, and that the practice predated the invention of
    typewriters.  (And for that matter, when American manual typewriters
    were standardized, both single and double quotes required shifting.)
    
    In old American books, when a quotation required several lines, a
    new opening quotation mark (a double one) was used at the beginning
    of every LINE.  (Haven't seen any old English books, sorry.)
    
    And for those of you who insist on putting unprintable characters in
    your notes, I oughta enter some Japanese quotation marks now....

Standard British English practice is to use double quotes for
quotations, as in 'merikan.

Soem people use single quotes but I don't think there is any UK/US distinction.

Jon

>Standard British English practice is to use double quotes for
>quotations, as in 'merikan.
    
    That does not seem to be the case in British books I've read,
    including British editions of books by American authors.
    
    (Yes, some bookstores here seem to prefer selling British editions;
    I don't know why.  Occasionally you can see the American and British
    editions side-by-side, and for the same price (about 4 times the U.S.
    price or twice the British price); for either an American author or
    British author.  In such cases, I prefer to buy the British edition,
    so that the distributor accomplishes less of a rip-off.)

    <FLAME>
    >Standard British English practice is to use double quotes for
    >quotations, as in 'merikan.
    
    Oh dear. I've often noticed that people who refer to `Standard British
    English practice' about punctuation usually have misconceptions about
    -ize endings as well (which I won't go into again; new readers see note
    500.20).
    <ENDFLAME>
    
    Hart's Rules - typographical bible of the Oxford University Press -
    insists on single quotation marks, with double ones for quoted
    quotations. It's all a matter of house style. There isn't a
    standard, and I don't see it as a particularly vital issue.
    (What I _do_ see as vital is that other people don't zealosly
    espouse one form or the other). It seems to me that the
    Bonnie/least-effort approach is most reasonable; it all depends
    on your keyboard.  (What do you _mean_, some people don't use
    keyboards?)
    
    Someone who knew could take hours writing about the rules for other
    languages.  I don't and shan't. I once had to learn the rules for
    French; all I remember of them was that they seemed more lax than any
    English version, but were more precise about just where|how they were
    relaxed.  Spanish|Portuguese rules are similar, I think, but if they're
    used properly, you don't notice them. I have/had a passing
    acquaintanceship with Italian and German practice too, but nothing I
    could give details of. I have a feeling that there's a sort of European
    Community way of doing this, that's quite different from the English
    way (oops). They may use different signs, but they use them in the same
    way.
    
    b
    
    b

    <meta-flame on< if we all practice least effort instead of standard
    rules of typography 9whatever countrys rules they might be0, i dont
    think well have an easy time of it <meta-flame off<

	In French, the "guillemets" can be printed either as the 
	traditional opening/closing double-quote sign � � or 
	as the more modern ", curving if possible. 
	I prefer " myself, because it doesn't require pressing the
	Compose key. 

	These signs are often used when you want to highlight a word, 
	for some reason. 
		Le film de Madonna n'est pas vraiment "chaud".

	It's an alternative to using italic; in fact, both
	are sometimes used together:

		Le latin _digitus_ veut dire "doigt".
	(where digitus would be in italic).


	
	The official rules for using guillemets when quoting text are 
	as follows (from the Acad�mie, quoted by Larousse):

	Each paragraph starts with a double-quote; the final paragraph
	is followed by a double-quote.

	If there's a quote within the quoted text, every line starts 
	with a double-quote.

	There's never a need for two consecutive double-quote signs (unlike
	BASIC, eh ?).

	If the quoted text is a complete sentence starting with an upper-case
	letter and ending with a colon (or exclamation/interrogation mark), 
	then the colon is enclosed in the quote, otherwise it is outside.
	
	
	Example:

		"Holmes posa son violon et mit ses pantoufles. Puis
		il descendit au salon. Watson l'attendait en lisant 
		le Times. En voyant son ami, il s'�cria: "Eh bien, 
		"mon cher, vous semblez en pleine forme ce matin !"

		"Holmes alluma sa pipe en disant "oui".


	Cheers,
	roger