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Is it okay to drop quotation marks on the second reference of an unusual term? Here’s a sentence with the term “greenfield” in it, which is not a common term. A few paragraphs later, the writer uses the same term and encloses it in quotation marks. Is it necessary to keep those quotation marks?

I feel fortunate to have had “greenfield” customers ...

This is especially important in “greenfield” implementations ...

Community
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debbiesym
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1 Answers1

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Is it necessary to keep those quotation marks?

Definitely not. If the expression is so apposite that you want to use it twice in the same paragraph then you probably should not use double quotes at all because they distance you and your reader from the words.

It is questionable whether greenfield in this context is unusual, but if you think that your readers might not understand it then give an explanation, such as, "greenfield, that is, land that has not previously been built on" and then carry on using the term as much as you like but without quotes.

Lawrence
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JeremyC
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  • I think Jeremy would still be correrct if your"second reference" was in the same sentence but "a few paragraphs later" makes in mandatory. Meanwhile sorry but "greenfield" is a common term… just not in the way your examples want to use it… – Robbie Goodwin Mar 06 '18 at 22:52
  • I think your "definitely not" is answering the "Is it necessary" question (and I agree with your reasoning). However, the OP also asked the reverse question in the title and early in the body of her question. It would help to avoid confusion if you block-quoted the version you're answering prior to saying, "Definitely not". – Lawrence Mar 07 '18 at 01:05
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    Thanks @Lawrence. To be quite clear I am saying: it is OK to drop the quotation marks; and actually they are unnecessary in the first place. – JeremyC Mar 07 '18 at 22:19