Can We Talk? Single vs Double Quotation Marks

As a copy editor—and in real life—I see an awful lot of quotation marks used incorrectly. Actually, it’s mostly single quotation marks. So let’s take a quick look at the difference between single quotation marks vs double.

Seriously, folks, it’s super simple. I promise. Don’t blink or you might miss it!

A little heads up…

CMOS stands for Chicago Manual of Style. A number after it is the rule number for the particular thing we’re looking at.

Single Quotation Marks—The BIG SCARY RULE

Single quotation marks are only used for quotes within quotes within dialogue. Everybody else gets doubles. That’s it. I swear. (CMOS 6.6)

If you want to use something called “scare quotes” (see what I did there?), use doubles. What, pray tell, are scare quotes? Think of scare quotes as the written version of air quotes. They are the sarcasm of the punctuation world. (CMOS 7.57)

Incorrect: My chihuahua is a ‘princess’ and she knows it.

Correct: My chihuahua is a “princess” and she knows it.

Naming a song? Double quotes. But be careful here. Not every title gets quotation marks. Many are to be typed in italics (CMOS Section 8). That list is for another day.

Incorrect: Did anybody ever figure out the words to ‘MMMBop’ by Hanson?

Correct: Did anybody ever figure out the words to “MMMBop” by Hanson?

Nickname? Doubles.

Get where I’m going with this? Double quotes are the Marsha to single quotes Jan. “It’s all ‘double, double double!’” Yep. You will occasionally end up with a single right next a double. Yep. It looks weird. Yep. It’s correct.

Now, I know at least one of you is wondering about quotes within quotes within quotes. Well, it’s simpler than it sounds. Working from the outside in, it’s double, single, double, single, and so on (CMOS 13.30). Here is the example given by CMOS:

“Don’t be absurd!” said Henry. “To say that ‘I mean what I say’ is the same as ‘I say what I mean’ is to be as confused as Alice at the Mad Hatter’s tea party. You remember what the Hatter said to her: ‘Not the same thing a bit! Why you might just as well say that “I see what I eat” is the same thing as “I eat what I see”!’ ”

Sorry you asked, aren’t you.

While we’re at it…

Let’s have a quick chat about where the punctuation goes in relation to the end quotation marks. In American English the closing period, question mark, exclamation point, or comma (if it comes before the attribution) comes before the closing quotation mark. Always and forever. Always. (CMOS 6.9)

Incorrect: “Using quotation marks correctly isn’t as confusing as it seems”, said BossLady.

Correct: “Using quotation marks correctly isn’t as confusing as it seems,” said BossLady.

Got it? Good! Now go forth and write dialogue!