Picking up were we left off with dashes, quotes face the same typographic challenge. You start typing up that email, report, etc. and click on the open quotation mark only to have it insert a so-called dumb quote, leaving you with an overlooked typo. Now the tricky part about these marks are that they can vary from typeface to typeface, and keyboard short cuts may not work from one system to another. The best way to guard against these blunders is to know what to look for. Below are some quick examples of how to correctly use quotation marks and prime marks.
DOUBLE QUOTATION MARKS
“
use to open a quote (is slanted or curved)
”
use to close a quote (is slanted or curved)
SINGLE QUOTATION MARKS
‘
use to open a quote (is slanted or curved)
’
use to close a quote (is slanted or curved)
PRIME MARKS
′
use as a measurement mark to show feet
″
use as a measurement mark to show inches
DUMB QUOTES (AVOID USING THESE)
‘
typically the incorrect default setting for the single quotation key
“
typically the incorrect default setting for the double quotation key
