A Conversation for English Usage in the Edited Guide
Quotations
quizzical Started conversation Jun 7, 2004
When we're writing a quotation (inside the tag), should we:
* Italicise the person's words?
* Put the person's words inside single quotes?
* both?
Example:
'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indestinguishable from magic.' - Arthur C. Clarke
quizzical 
Quotations
Mort - a middle aged Girl Interrupted Posted Jun 7, 2004
Hi Quizzical,
the words are italiscised but don't have any single quotes 
<./>SubEditors-GuideML#BLOCKQUOTE</.>
Quotations
Mort - a middle aged Girl Interrupted Posted Jun 7, 2004
oops posted too soon!
Use a tag after the quote and italics, so the name is on a new line in non-italics but still within the blockquote. The link gives an example to show what I mean. 
Quotations
Mort - a middle aged Girl Interrupted Posted Jun 7, 2004
Nevermind, here are so many places to look things up! This is the list of the ones I refer to, just in case you don't have them all
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1285328 - BBCi links
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/SubEditors-GuideML
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1098876 - special character codes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A299496 - subs guideML by Bruce
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A597143 - quick guide to puntuation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/SubEditors-Style
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1342090 - Joe C's Subbing guide
http://www.askoxford.com/
Quotations
. Posted Jul 1, 2004
What about a quotation without a blockquote tag? Just a short thing eg
She doesn't want to eat fish, however, as she says 'eating fish is not one of my favourite things!'
If it's just a short quote like that, should it be italicised or apostrophed or both?
Quotations
Smij - Formerly Jimster Posted Jul 1, 2004
Anotehr chance to see:
The use of quote marks and italics is a matter that many experienced Researchers still have trouble with. Here's the basics, in potted form:
If you are quoting, and the quote is a sentence or less, use single inverted commas. Do not use italics.
If you are quoting and the quote is more than a sentence, use ... . Do not use additional inverted commas, unless the quote includes a quote inside of it. For example:
That was the year when we were told to 'Turn on, tune in and drop out'..
If your quote is more than a paragraph, you need to wrap each paragraph with ... tags. You do not use additional tags.
Quotations
. Posted Jul 1, 2004
Yay 
*props up a neon sign so that everybody else can see the useful information*
Quotations
Mort - a middle aged Girl Interrupted Posted Jul 1, 2004
That is helpful to know!
I always find the single sentence a little tricky. I think I have just gone with what I think looks right - Heaven only knows if it was right or not 
Jimster!
Key: Complain about this post
Quotations
- 1: quizzical (Jun 7, 2004)
- 2: Mort - a middle aged Girl Interrupted (Jun 7, 2004)
- 3: Mort - a middle aged Girl Interrupted (Jun 7, 2004)
- 4: quizzical (Jun 7, 2004)
- 5: Mort - a middle aged Girl Interrupted (Jun 7, 2004)
- 6: . (Jul 1, 2004)
- 7: . (Jul 1, 2004)
- 8: Smij - Formerly Jimster (Jul 1, 2004)
- 9: . (Jul 1, 2004)
- 10: Mort - a middle aged Girl Interrupted (Jul 1, 2004)
More Conversations for English Usage in the Edited Guide
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."