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I know that the nested quotes are usually punctuated as follows (British usage):

[...] and then he said: 'I will always remember Churchill's "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat" as the most powerful quote to ever get me through tough times.'

What quotation mark should be used if that is inserted into yet another quote: eg.

Jules Cocovin gave this precise quote: '[...] and then he said: "I will always remember Churchill's #I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat# as the most powerful quote to ever get me through tough times."'

Please, kindly, refrain from advice regarding how I can restructure the sentence. I know how. I don't know what the 3rd level of quotation marks is in English.

Jules Cocovin
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    ABA or BAB. Alternated single and double inverted commas. Doubtless covered on ELU before. – Edwin Ashworth May 20 '20 at 12:01
  • @EdwinAshworth Thanks. Seems logical. Though sometimes there's going to be some nice clusters at the end, it seems. – Jules Cocovin May 20 '20 at 12:16
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    Italicising can sometimes get you out of it. '... and then he said: "I will always remember Churchill's I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat as the most powerful quote to ever get me through tough times."' – Weather Vane May 20 '20 at 13:13
  • @WeatherVane It could. I toyed with the idea but it was my 2nd option, as italics are used elsewhere in the text, and that would have made things difficult to read. – Jules Cocovin May 20 '20 at 13:51
  • If you consider 'that would have made things difficult to read [/construe]' / 'Though sometimes there's going to be some nice clusters at the end, it seems' .reasons to avoid some usages (and I certainly agree), your request that people don't suggest restructuring seems infelicitous. The use of triple ... levels of inverted commas is rarely in line with the Gricean maxim of manner (essentially here, de-clutter). – Edwin Ashworth May 20 '20 at 14:08
  • @EdwinAshworth So, would I be allowed to reduce the final cluster of inverted commas? – Jules Cocovin May 20 '20 at 15:34
  • There is no third type of quotation mark. Repeated levels of nesting alternate between the existing two. The man said, "Wait, did you hear that she said, 'Wait, did you hear that he said, "Wait?" ' " – Jason Bassford May 20 '20 at 15:50
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    Avoid such formatting and restructure; you can't arbitrarily tinker with it. That leads to confusion. – Edwin Ashworth May 20 '20 at 15:55

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