Half quote?

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Could somebody please tell me the correct usage of ' (half quote, I believe it is called)? What is the technical term for it? I usually use quotation marks to emphasize words in a sentence, is that wrong? Should I use half quotes instead?
Thanks for the help, everybody.
Jack

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Jack wrote on 26 Sep 2004:
[nq:1]Could somebody please tell me the correct usage of ' (half quote, I believe it is called)? What is the technical term for it? I usually use quotation marks to emphasize words in a sentence, is that wrong? Should I use half quotes instead?[/nq]
It's called an "apostrophe" in American English, but it's also called a "single quotation mark" and is used as the primary form of quotation mark in British English. In American English, the double quotation mark, " , is the primary symbol.

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet.

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[nq:1]Could somebody please tell me the correct usage of ' (half quote, I believe it is called)? What is the technical term for it? I usually use quotation marks to emphasize words in a sentence, is that wrong? Should[/nq]
This topic is discussed in style books, e.g. Chicago Manual of Style. It is generally a bad idea to use quotation marks for emphasis. The best prose chooses emphatic words that need no typographical marking: if such is needed, italics or boldface serve the purpose and do not suggest that matter is being quoted, the usual function of quotation marks.

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

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[nq:1]I usually use quotation marks to emphasize words in a sentence, is that wrong?[/nq]
You "might" want to read .

znark

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[nq:1]Could somebody please tell me the correct usage of ' (half quote, I believe it is called)? What is the ... emphasize words in a sentence, is that wrong? Should I use half quotes instead? Thanks for the help, everybody. Jack[/nq]
It goes between the first and second letters of my family name.

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[nq:1]Jack wrote on 26 Sep 2004:[/nq]
[nq:2]Could somebody please tell me the correct usage of ' ... sentence, is that wrong? Should I use half quotes instead?[/nq]
[nq:1]It's called an "apostrophe" in American English, but it's also called a "single quotation mark" and is used as the primary form of quotation mark in British English. In American English, the double quotation mark, " , is the primary symbol.[/nq]
As Fowler noted, there is no general rule in the matter, but one can only hope that the more sensible practice of using the single quotation mark as the primary form would prevail.
In my own writing, however, I follow the less sensible practice.

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

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[nq:1]Could somebody please tell me the correct usage of ' (half quote, I believe it is called)? What is the technical term for it? I usually use quotation marks to emphasize words in a sentence, is that wrong? Should I use half quotes instead?[/nq]
They are usually called "single quotation marks, and there are actually two of them: ` and ', though they don't usually display well in monospaced type.

But neither single nor double quotation marks should be used for emphasis. You should use italics for that purpose, or underline if you are using a typewriter that can't do italics a typesetter will automatically set underlined text in italics.
You would alternate single and double quotation marks for nested quotations - which you use first is up to you (or the house style of your publisher, if you are writing for publication). It doesn't matter much, as long as you are consistent about it.
Putting single words or short phrases in quotation marks can indicate various things, but not usually emphasis.
1) They can indicate that you are discussing the word in quotation marks, andnot using it as a normal part of a sentence.
2) They can indicate technical terms, or words that you are defining.
2) They can indicate that you disagree with the use of the word in aparticular context, though others may use them that way. You can achieve the same effect by the use of "so-called".
Some examples:
The minister said, "Coloureds will not be allowed to live in white areas."

The minister said that "Coloureds" would not be allowed to live in "white" areas.
The minister said that so-called Coloureds would not be allowed to live in so-called white areas.
Or you can adopt the belt-and-braces approach and say:

"The minister said that so-called "Coloureds" would not not be allowed to live in so-called "white" areas."
I suppose that could be called "emphasis".
You could further emphasise the point by making two downward movements of the first two fingers of each hand.
This use is referred to by some on AUE as "scare quotes". I'm not quite sure why.

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

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[nq:2]Jack wrote on 26 Sep 2004: It's called an "apostrophe" ... the double quotation mark, " , is the primary symbol.[/nq]
[nq:1]As Fowler noted, there is no general rule in the matter, but one can only hope that the more sensible practice of using the single quotation mark as the primary form would prevail. In my own writing, however, I follow the less sensible practice.[/nq]
I (Br.) tend to use the single mark except when posting to a critical readership. I don't know why, but perhaps it's because I don't have to use the shift key to type it. That seems a good enough justification to me.

Paul
In bocca al Lupo!

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