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Snarf Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

An "a" in front of an adjective after "called"

I've been learning quite a bit these days about the necessity of quotation marks when referring to words as words. Take these two examples, however:

1. "That guy is Tom. He gets called 'a genius' a lot."
2. "That's Sara. It's unfair that she gets called 'a hussy.'"

Are those single quotes right there, given they are after "called," or does the "a" in front of those two adjectives make it unnecessary and even superflous to put them there?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

Snarf Are those single quotes right there, given they are after "called," or does the "a" in front of those two adjectives make it unnecessary and even superfl u ous to put them there? I would not use the single quotes there, for both reasons you've already mentioned. The verb is 'call', and the article also makes the quotes superfluous.

— CalifJim

  • Snarf Are those single quotes right there, given they are after "called," or does the "a" in front of those two adjectives make it unnecessary and even superfl u ous to put them there?
  • I would not use the single quotes there, for both reasons you've already mentioned.
  • The verb is 'call', and the article also makes the quotes superfluous.
  • CJ
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7 Answers
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SnarfAre those single quotes right there, given they are after "called," or does the "a" in front of those two adjectives make it unnecessary and even superfluous to put them there?
I would not use the single quotes there, for both reasons you've already mentioned. The verb is 'call', and the article also makes the quotes s
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What do you mean by article? And would you say it's wrong or superfluous to put them in a line like this as well?

"Why don't we ever get called 'studs,' 'hunks' or 'tough guys'?"

Perhaps italics would be better than quotation marks for such a matter?
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Snarfarticle
"a"
SnarfWhy don't we ever get called 'studs,' 'hunks' or 'tough guys'?
Actually, maybe the article doesn't make any difference because you can leave out the single quotes in the sentence above as well.
SnarfPerhaps italics would be better than quotation marks for such a matter?
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OK, so are you saying that the fact that all those examples follow "called" makes the quotes superfluous?
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SnarfOK, so are you saying that the fact that all those examples follow "called" makes the quotes superfluous?
Yes. I think I'd only use quotes if the item in question were a very unusual word like a strange nickname, for example.

They always called him "Beeny".

When you about to publish your magnum opus, you can rely on your editors to guid
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What about these two?

"It's similar to what in the Kama Sutra is called the yab-yum, only with a slight variation," he explained.

"That dance is called the waltz," he said.

So given what you've said in this thread thus far, you would not put singular quotes around "yab-yum" or "waltz," correct? There doesn't seem to be a right or wrong answer to all of this, anyway, so
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Snarf given what you've said in this thread thus far, you would not put singular quotes around "yab-yum" or "waltz," correct?
Correct.
SnarfThere doesn't seem to be a right or wrong answer to all of this, anyway, so it seems.
Yes. That's how it seems to me.

CJ
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