What is the Point? Punctuation Part 3 Inverted Commas

“Inverted commas,” she said, “look a bit like sixty-six and ninety-nine.”

Inverted Commas Inverted commas indicate that: - words are spoken aloud -words are being quoted from another source -the writer / speaker is using irony -the item in the inverted commas is commonly known by this term, although it may be not be literally correct. -the writer wishes to distance themselves from the words spoken

To indicate speech Inverted commas contain the actual words spoken. This is why inverted commas are sometimes referred to as “speech marks”. (Did you see what I did there?)

To indicate a quotation A writer may wish to quote someone else to provide evidence for their argument, or do illustrate a differing point of view. On these occasions, inverted commas can be referred to as “quotation marks”.

Irony Writers may use inverted commas to show they mean the opposite of what they have written. This is a “fascinating” Powerpoint, you see.

Commonly known The head teacher decided to meet with the pupils in “The Street”. The head teacher decided to meet with the pupils in the street.

Distance Yes son, this is the “Higher” class… Like, Miss, is this the Higher class?

“Okay, Miss,” I hear you say, ”But can you be a little more specific about the impact ?”

Inverted Commas Example In a third floor window facing the main bus station in Manhattan, a neon sign says “Jesus cares”. As the evening rush shoals into the terminal on Eighth Avenue, He’s probably the only one who does.

a neon sign says “Jesus cares”. As the evening rush shoals into the terminal on Eighth Avenue, He’s probably the only one who does. The inverted commas indicate that the words are being quoted from another source: a neon sign. Impact: an inanimate sign is the only thing communicating care and sympathy, underlining the writer’s portrayal of the busy, faceless city.

Inverted Commas Example I am halfway through The American Senator and still do not know whether Arabella will succeed in getting Lord Rufford to marry her. This is the adult equivalent of a “bad” book.

This is the adult equivalent of a “bad” book. The inverted commas make it clear that the writer is distancing herself from the judgement that the book is bad. From this we are made aware that she feels as if other people would disapprove of her reading material.

Inverted Commas Example There was a terrible woman whom I once knew, who expressed surprise that I was not reading Anna Karenina in Russian. “You will lose everything,” she said. I didn’t.

“You will lose everything,” she said. I didn’t. These words are in inverted commas because they are quoted from another source. Clearly, the words were memorable when they were spoken, as if our writer can still hear her. The woman sounded very definite. By contrasting this claim with the very short sentence “I didn’t”, the writer makes clear just how wrong the woman was.

Inverted Commas Eample As a young SNP activist, Salmond was seen as suspiciously left-wing by the party’s "Tartan Tory" leadership.

… the party’s “Tartan Tory” leadership The inverted commas are used here show that the leadership of the party were informally and commonly known as “Tartan Tory”. We can therefore tell that this was not an official title, but an informal nickname for the group, but that the “tartan” suggested the Scottishness and “Tory” suggested their right wing views.

Inverted Commas Example Poole charts the stealthy legitimisation of “ethnic cleansing”, which started out as a term liked by the perpetrators of genocide because it hid their crimes in a metaphor of hygiene. By dropping the inverted commas, we adopted the murderers’ point of view.

legitimisation of “ethnic cleansing”, which started out as a term liked by the perpetrators of genocide because it hid their crimes in a metaphor of hygiene. The inverted commas show that this was what genocide was known as, particularly by those committing it. It allowed others to distance themselves from the term. It originally had inverted commas to draw attention to the irony of the title. The “metaphor” of hygiene partially hid the fact that the practice is filthy and thoroughly evil.

Last example! It seems that people are beginning to see having children as a long term commitment. Far from longing for the days when their kids are “off their hands”, parents are now in it for the long haul. This new trend has been christened “lifelong parenting”.

Far from longing for the days when their kids are “off their hands”, parents are now in it for the long haul. The words are in inverted commas to show they are being quoted from another source. In this case it was a commonly used phrase in the past. Impact: this sets up the contrast with the parents who are interested in a long term commitment.

This new trend has been christened “lifelong parenting”. The words are in inverted commas to show that this is now a new commonly used phrase. The word “christened” is appropriate here, as that is an occasion on which babies are named. The inverted commas therefore let us know the name of the new trend.

“That’s everything there is to know about quotation marks, speech marks or inverted commas. Just don’t quote me on that.”