3

Early on, we learn the general rule that quotation marks come in pairs and, usually later, we come upon the exception: an opening quotation mark that has no matching closing one.

MLA Handbook:

When a speaker’s words in dialogue extend to more than one paragraph, use an opening quotation mark at the beginning of each paragraph. Use a closing quotation mark, however, only at the end of the person’s speech, not at the end of every paragraph.

My question is the reverse: Are there cases where a closing quotation mark has no matching opening one?

Yosef Baskin
  • 6,768
DjinTonic
  • 21,299
  • 2
    Punctuation is a matter of style. If you want to, you can reverse the usual style, although this may limit you to self-publication, since 99% of publishing houses, newspapers etc will correct your orthography. Running counter to convention will also make the reader's task more difficult, which most writers try to avoid. In any case, my view is that most questions about punctuation on this site are off-topic as they can only be answered as opinion (there being no "right" answer on style). For further guidance, see [ask]. :-) – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Jul 22 '21 at 22:33
  • 1
    Are there cases where a closing quotation mark has no matching opening one? If there are, I have never seen one. – Greybeard Jul 22 '21 at 22:53
  • “Quotation marks, double or single, always come in pairs.” — The Chicago Manual of Style. But you can sure confound your word processor using apostrophes and single quotes: She said, “He muttered, ‘The ’80s? It’s complicated.’ ” double 6 / single 6 / single 9 / single 9 / single 9 / double 9 – Tinfoil Hat Jul 22 '21 at 23:09
  • @Chappo I wasn't asking for an opinion. I was asking about correct, accepted usage. Because you don't have an answer doesn't mean there isn't one. I'm new here and the site says to post questions you know the answer to. That's what I did. I'll answer if no one knows. – DjinTonic Jul 22 '21 at 23:09
  • @Tinfoil Hat. Yes, and we all know one exception to the rule. There is another. – DjinTonic Jul 22 '21 at 23:17
  • 2
    Are you saying, then, that your question is a riddle to which you already know the answer? – Tinfoil Hat Jul 22 '21 at 23:23
  • @Tin foil Hat. Yes, I am. I saw no tag for "puzzle" or "riddle". Your site directions say you can post the answer to your own question, but I thought it would be more interesting to wait. If you want to close the question, go ahead. – DjinTonic Jul 22 '21 at 23:26
  • @Greybeard I can sincerely guarantee that you have seen this case, but haven't realized it. – DjinTonic Jul 22 '21 at 23:49
  • I won’t vote to close, but someone else might. You might want to answer soon, or you’ll have to answer in a comment. – Tinfoil Hat Jul 23 '21 at 01:14
  • @Tinfoil Hat That isn't exactly true -- "have to"? – DjinTonic Jul 23 '21 at 01:18
  • Ah, I get it. Have fun with your cat-and-mouse game! – Tinfoil Hat Jul 23 '21 at 01:24
  • 1
    @DjinTonic you say "I'm new here", so you'd be unfamiliar with the usual process of users voting to close a question without offering any explanation via a comment. I remember what it was like starting here 5 years ago, so I make the effort to add a comment. I recommend you spend some time on our site to get a feel for what's accepted here. Questions about punctuation *invite opinion, rather than objective fact supported by authoritative reference*. The only "correct" answer would be based on a specific style manual (eg CMS, APA, MLA), but that would suggest lack of research by the OP. – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Jul 23 '21 at 02:08
  • @ChappoHasn'tForgottenMonica : In your first comment, "Punctuation is a matter of style. ... there being no 'right' answer on style" seems to clash with "will correct your orthography". – Andreas Blass Jul 23 '21 at 02:14
  • @ChappoHasn'tForgottenMonica Thank you for you comment, which I appreciate. However, my question is asking where one can (fairly commonly) see a closing quotation mark without an opening one and not whether you or I would write that way. Everyone seems to be approaching the question from the writer's viewpoint. That leads you down the garden path away from an answer. – DjinTonic Jul 23 '21 at 02:25
  • I did not post the answer with the question because I honestly thought folks would enjoy thinking about this for a while first. – DjinTonic Jul 23 '21 at 02:28
  • 3
    @DjinTonic "I honestly thought folks would enjoy thinking about this for a while first" – which means you're seriously misunderstanding the nature of EL&U. This is not a discussion forum or chat site, for posting interesting anomalies of the English language dressed up as questions. It's a Q&A site "for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts." That doesn't suit everyone, but there's an EL&U Chat Room for those who want to engage in anomalistic discussion. ;-) – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Jul 23 '21 at 08:58
  • Request for help rephrasing the question is in chat room. – DjinTonic Jul 23 '21 at 10:37
  • @TinfoilHat I call shenanigans '80s is not a quotation mark – Greybeard Jul 23 '21 at 23:25
  • Yes, that is an apostophe, and my question concerns a missing opening quotation mark anyway. This is not a trick question. – DjinTonic Jul 24 '21 at 00:21
  • @Greybeard: Did I say it was? – Tinfoil Hat Jul 24 '21 at 05:29
  • Would it be acceptable to rephrase my question as "Here is one occasion where we regularly see a closing quotation mark without a matching opening one in English. Are there any other cases?" (with examples, of course). There was a similar question about guillemets here without an example, BTW. – DjinTonic Jul 24 '21 at 11:17
  • @TinfoilHat taking "6 or 9" as a single quotation mark - I see “He muttered, ‘The ’80s? It’s complicated.’ ” double 6 / single 6 / single 9 / single 9 / single 9 / double 9" as double 6 / single 6 /apostrophe/apostrophe/ single 9 / double 9". Have I misunderstood? – Greybeard Jul 24 '21 at 11:21
  • My usage is glatt kosher with no tref apostrophes. – DjinTonic Jul 24 '21 at 11:43
  • Answering in comments until reopened: this question is perfectly dual to the mentioned question. In those styles where you put the quotation at the start of the first question, it is only a 'manner of speaking' to say "there is no matching closing quotation" - of course there must be one eventually, it just doesn't occur at the end of the first paragraph. But in that exact same situation, the ending paragraph has a closing quotation but no opening quotation at the beginning of that paragraph, but there is one at the beginning of the first paragraph. It is the same situation. – Mitch Jul 24 '21 at 20:22
  • 1
    @Mitch We can pair the end quote mark with the first (opening) mark. To my mind that leaves all the others as unmatched (paragraph) opening marks. There is no unmatched closing mark. But you could certainly post that analysis were we accepting answers. – DjinTonic Jul 24 '21 at 20:33
  • I am asking about a different exception to the "quotation marks come in pairs" rule. – DjinTonic Jul 24 '21 at 20:39
  • Stealth antiduplicate. – tchrist Jul 24 '21 at 22:27
  • @DjinTonic My mistake...I had forgotten how quotes worked with a long passage. I had thought something that was not the case (ie I assumed quotes were like programming language parens). Now that I read up the insanity of the current rule (an open quote for every paragraph and close quote on on the last paragraph, i have nothing further to add to this otherworldly state of affairs. – Mitch Jul 24 '21 at 23:38
  • This, and the matching answer, is about orthography rather than punctuation per se and belongs on a different site ... display/layout-orientated. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 29 '21 at 11:46
  • 1
    And yet orthography appears to be a fairly popular tag here, with 1,503 questions. I wasn't asking about dropped/raised caps themselves, which, granted, wouldn't be a usage question, but rather the surrounding punctuation we see (or don't see) in the books we read. – DjinTonic Jul 29 '21 at 12:58
  • @EdwinAshworth Orthography and punctuation and what particular style guides say about them is very much on-topic. – Mitch Jul 30 '21 at 13:36
  • @Mitch 'We may have an opinion on this esthetics vs. comprehensibility question' in the accepted answer almost confirms that the acceptability of dropping initial quotes when used with a drop-cap is wide open to opinion. There are no non-orthographical answers forthcoming; this is a matter of design preferences, not standard English usages. Next: Should illuminated letters contain more than 20% gold ink? – Edwin Ashworth Jul 30 '21 at 16:13
  • 1
    @EdwinAshworth Isn't it odd that an answer to a question would determine its acceptability? I do not know that mine is the only answer. Further, the practice of roughly half of all publishers regarding the punctuation should be sufficient to avoid a label of non-standard. This is English usage, at least in print. The question asking about guillemets I brought up wasn't closed because it's a typographical one. Once again, I was not asking about how best to design a drop cap or how much gold it should have. – DjinTonic Jul 30 '21 at 16:31
  • I'm saying that drop-caps are not a suitable topic for ELU. They are a stylistic embellishment, more properly discussed elsewhere, and Chappo broadens this to include surrounding punctuation (and doubtless formatting). If some other (reasonably common) usage of closing-only inverted commas is given, I'll reverse my close-vote. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 30 '21 at 16:47

2 Answers2

8

I know of one. Here are some examples:

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Elizabeth McDowell." There was reluctance in Yao's voice as he spoke the name, as if it were a truth he did not wish to acknowledge.

Eliot Pattison, Beautiful Ghosts, p.206, hardcover ed. The first sentence in the chapter begins with a drop capital E and no opening quotation mark.

What's this?" Kleinman asked.

Ethan Canin, Carry Me Across the Water, p. 79, hardcover ed. This section starts with a drop capital W and no opening quotation mark (the book has no formal, numbered chapters).

     [Chapter] 27
The Yiddish Policemen's Union,' " says the pie man.

Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, p. 230, hardcover ed. The chapter beings with a drop capital T and nested (!) opening quotation marks omitted.

The case of a drop cap with an opening quotation mark creates a tension in typesetting/formatting between what may be more pleasing to the eye and what may be more pleasing to the brain.

When the first word of a chapter or section opens with a large raised or dropped initial letter and the first words are a run in quotation, the opening quotation marks are often omitted.

Chicago Manual of Style, Quotation marks 13.38 (The 16th edition, 2010, p.633)
This appears to have moved in the 17th edition (CMOS 17, © 2017) to section 13.37, Decorative initials (“drop caps” and raised initials), but it’s not free.

There are those who believe leaving off the first quote mark is confusing to readers.

Indies Unlimited

Several years ago, after reading the first, long sentence at the start of a chapter, I was surprised to see a closing quotation mark. I hadn't realized a character was speaking because the sentence made perfect sense when read as narration. Looking back at the start of the sentence, I saw a drop cap with no opening quotation mark. Of course when I reread it, the sentence also made sense as spoken dialog. If this was the norm, why had I never noticed it?

Publishers are divided as to how they handle this case. My impression is that a slight majority choose to omit the quotation mark in their house style guide.  I don't know if some publishers, rather than adhering to a single style guide, change on some other basis, e.g. by imprint, series, or perhaps the decision of a book designer.

On the flip side, desktop publishers may have to jump through hoops if they want to keep the opening quotation mark with a drop cap:

How to fix a drop cap with an opening quote mark

Drop Caps and Quotation Marks: A Workaround

Coming Unstuck with Drop Caps

We may have an opinion on this esthetics vs. comprehensibility question, although writers never have to worry about this issue. As readers, however, we might encounter this "other" exception to the "quotation marks come in pairs" rule several times in a single novel without ever taking notice.

DjinTonic
  • 21,299
  • 1
    This is no challenge to the skilled typesetter. Bringhurst shows several extremely tasteful and well-done examples of using opening quotes with versals, including as hanging punctuation to the left of the margin and kerned into the same space as the versal itself. See this answer and specifically this image for what I'm talking about. Of course, more extended investigation of his observations and recommendations would exceed the scope of comments here, as well as the space in the margin. :) – tchrist Jul 25 '21 at 01:19
  • @tchrist Nice shoutout to Fermat! – DjinTonic Jul 25 '21 at 14:10
  • 3
    While this obviously provides an objective answer to "Does this happen?" I don't think it should be taken as evidence that it is in any way desirable. – Andrew Leach Jul 27 '21 at 13:54
  • @Andrew Leach If we are speaking about comprehension, I believe most everyone would agree. Regarding esthetics, however, we may fall into two camps. In any case it's not a choice that readers or writers make, and I intentionally avoided write and writing in the question. – DjinTonic Jul 27 '21 at 14:26
-1

My answer is not so much of an answer as a way of deepening the profundity of the original question. I am adding a layer to the mystery, and if I had found an answer before I came here I may have commented with that information to help answer the original question. All I have is more questions. I came here searching for a reason for why one might use one opening quotation mark and multiple closing quotation marks for the same opening mark, or the reverse. For instance:

“Partial Release and Assignment” Bill of Exchange” “Sight Draft” Promissory Note”

This is the first time that I have encountered this, and the context is in commerce and legal paperwork. I'm starting to learn about the law, but I have not yet picked up a book on the subject, particularly not any style manuals. I've been collecting my information about a particular elusive topic from the internet, and at some point I'm going to get around to actually reading books about all of this despite my perceived lack of time in the day, and energy to do so. If anybody has the answer, please do let us hear it. I think this will contribute to answering the question on a higher level than was originally intended.

John
  • 1
  • Welcome, John. May I suggest you post this contribution as its own, new question, since it doesn't answer the original question, and other contributors would have no way of showing which question they are answering. After you post your question, you can delete your answer here. – DjinTonic Apr 17 '23 at 12:54