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How are embedded quotations used?
What's the Difference in Usage Between Using Single and Two Quotation Marks/Inverted Commas?

Let's say I want to write a question here at ELU about how to deal with punctuation in the case of embedded quotes. How would I deal with this three layered beast of a quote?

"Something like "Is this meaning okay: 'The police suck because they are bad because they only want my money'?", perhaps?"

I guess using a double for the first layer, single for the second and a double again for the third and so on would make most sense.

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Shathur
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  • Your second question probably belongs in its own question (but check to see if it has been answered first.) – MrHen May 10 '11 at 20:18
  • @MrHen Yes, I thought of that when I wrote the question. I checked to see if there was a question of that kind already, but I did not find any one. I did not extract it to a separate question though. I'll do that now. – Shathur May 10 '11 at 21:00
  • Usually, double quotes for the first level, single quotes for the second. I've never seen a third layer. The problem is that regardless of whatever system of logic you elect to deploy, such as double-single-double-single" etc., you are giving the reader a headache. Revise in some way that simplifies the material and makes it easier to parse. – The Raven May 10 '11 at 21:14
  • @MrHen I found a solution to the problem while trying to phrase it in a clear and easily understandable way in the new separate question. At first I included the solution in this question and did not create a new question, since I already had a solution while writing the question. Then I realized that it was very easy to solve, only that I encountered it in a very special situation. Thus I deleted the content so it would not distract readers of my question. – Shathur May 10 '11 at 21:15
  • @Raven Yes, I understand that this is a quite special situation and that the best advise would be to reformat the text. And, while thinking of it, I guess that even though this probably has been encountered before, it is so rare that there is no established solution whatsoever. I'd be interested if someone could provide such a solution for me in an answer, though! – Shathur May 10 '11 at 21:17
  • @Shathur: Glad it worked out. :D – MrHen May 10 '11 at 21:20

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