Talk inside of talk

[LissaSue]

Just wondering if someone could tell me how to handle speach inside of speach? For example, "I heard your dad say "You kids have fun" before we left." I know there's a better way because that just looks dorky. lol

Thanks!

 

[sr71plt]

In the American system, the first level of quote is always double. One inside that is single. And if there were a third level, it would be double again.

Thus: "I heard your dad say, 'You kids have fun,' before we left."

The British do it differently.

 

[LissaSue]

Us silly Americans, gotta be different in everything! lol

Thanks SR!

 

[colddiesel]

Us silly Americans, gotta be different in everything! lol

Thanks SR!

No LissaSue, it's the Brits who have changed, I just pulled a copy of David Hume's "History of England" of the shelf; It was printed and published in London in 1825 and has double American style quotation marks throughout.

British kids were taught in school until at least the 1970's to use double marks. It is the British printing convention which has changed.

Personally, I prefer double marks.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

In the American system, the first level of quote is always double. One inside that is single. And if there were a third level, it would be double again.

Thus: "I heard your dad say, 'You kids have fun,' before we left."

The British do it differently.

I have been taught the same as SR. But I have also been taught the reason for the differences in spelling, along with other things, is that the colonials wanted to make such a distinct break from England that they changed the spelling of some words.

As I understand it, at any rate.

I don't see a need for double quotes within the single quotes, personally. Not saying its wrong, but I tried to think of some examples to offer but cannot come up with one.

Anyway...

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Lissa, what sr is describing is called 'nesting' of inverted commas (quotation marks). You can go to any level of speech within speech as long as you switch between double and single for each change.

Taking your example, this could become;

"I heard your dad say, 'You kids have fun and your mom said, "Tell them to take care" ' before we left."

Each level needs a change from single to double.

Canadian (and Australian and UK) style can accept the opening as either single or double - most publishers prefer to start with single (it's cheaper) - but the same nesting rule applies. The tricky thing is to make sure you close each piece of speech with the appropriate punctuation.

 

[mynameisben]

"I heard your dad say, 'You kids have fun and your mom said, "Tell them to take care" ' before we left."

I would never write a sentence like that. Tri-nested quotations, whether used correctly or not, is just too much smart-assery for one's own good.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

I would never write a sentence like that. Tri-nested quotations, whether used correctly or not, is just too much smart-assery for one's own good.

I agree, but the Bible takes it to the fourth or fifth level. Save your soul!

It was just an example, however contrived, to illustrate a point.

 

[mynameisben]

I agree, but the Bible takes it to the fourth or fifth level. Save your soul!

It was just an example, however contrived, to illustrate a point.

I know. I wasn't mocking you. I was just adding my two-cents worth of agreeing with you.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

I know. I wasn't mocking you. I was just adding my two-cents worth of agreeing with you.

Sure, I wasn't getting at you. In my opinion - with fiction - even secondary 'dialogue' can get confusing. most authors seem to avoid it.

 

[bronzeage]

Sure, I wasn't getting at you. In my opinion - with fiction - even secondary 'dialogue' can get confusing. most authors seem to avoid it.

There is always the option of leaving all internal quote marks out, altogether. One person is speaking. There are no audible quotation marks. If there is no confusion about who said what and the meaning is clear, all is well.

The real goal is clarity and no one is grading papers.

 

[jeninflorida]

In the American system, the first level of quote is always double. One inside that is single. And if there were a third level, it would be double again.

Thus: "I heard your dad say, 'You kids have fun,' before we left."

The British do it differently.

I'm not sure if anyone else would agree with me, but you ask 10 different people to "edit" one story, and one will get 10 different stories

 

[sr71plt]

I'm not sure if anyone else would agree with me, but you ask 10 different people to "edit" one story, and one will get 10 different stories

You shouldn't get ten different stories--that would be rewriting the story, not editing it. I agree that you likely would get ten different versions of editorial suggestions, particularly if it was a long story.