quotation mark
Dialogue boundary symbol
Quotation marks are punctuation marks used in pairs to set off quoted speech, titles, or words used in a special sense.
In American English, double quotation marks (" ") are standard, with single marks (' ') for quotes within quotes; British usage often reverses this.
She said, "I'll be late." Quotation marks can also signal irony or skepticism: The "expert" had no credentials.
Mark showing ownership
- commaPunctuation marking pauses
- periodPunctuation ending sentences
- semicolonPunctuation joining related clauses
- colonLarge intestine section
exclamation point · ellipsis · parentheses · brackets · dash · hyphen · inverted commas · typeset
Verbally expressed, past tense
- conversationExchange of spoken ideas
- direct speechExact quoted utterance
- indirect speechRestating another's words
- speakerOne who talks
attribution · fiction · prose · storytelling · screenplay · script · transcript · interview
Having spiral locks
- straightNot curved or crooked
- smartMentally quick, or fashionable
- dumbWitless or mute
- openingGap or start
closing · nested · matching · paired · ASCII · font · kerning · baseline
Directing attention elsewhere
- sourcePoint of origin
- attributionAssigning origin or cause
- footnoteCitation at page bottom
- bibliographyList of cited works
excerpt · cite · epigraph · plagiarism · paraphrase · acknowledgment · academic · scholarship
Labeled with skepticism
- highlightMost notable part
- ironyMeaning opposite to words
- skepticismDisposition toward doubt
- distancingCreating space or separation
apostrophe
Mark showing ownership
- commaPunctuation marking pauses
- periodPunctuation ending sentences
- semicolonPunctuation joining related clauses
colon · exclamation point · ellipsis · parentheses · brackets · dash · hyphen · inverted commas · typeset · typography
said
Verbally expressed, past tense
- conversationExchange of spoken ideas
- direct speechExact quoted utterance
- indirect speechRestating another's words
speaker · attribution · fiction · prose · storytelling · screenplay · script · transcript · interview · reported speech
curly
Having spiral locks
opening · closing · nested · matching · paired · ASCII · font · kerning · baseline · glyph
reference
Directing attention elsewhere
- sourcePoint of origin
- attributionAssigning origin or cause
- footnoteCitation at page bottom
bibliography · excerpt · cite · epigraph · plagiarism · paraphrase · acknowledgment · academic · scholarship · endnote
so-called
Labeled with skepticism
- highlightMost notable part
- ironyMeaning opposite to words
- skepticismDisposition toward doubt
- punctuationperiod, comma, colon, apostrophe, semicolon
- ASCII characterscomma, period, space, colon, semicolon
- code symbolsampersand, asterisk, at sign, backslash, backtick
- marksblemish, blotch, stroke, seal of approval, blot
- symbolssymbols, runes, symbol, asterisks, national symbol
- Keyboard Charactersa, d, e, h, q