quotation marks

[plin]

Is this use of quotation marks proper in English? Ideally the quotation marks should fall directly under the word which they replace.


He bought a thousand mangos for resale.

She bought a '' '' '' ''

They bought a " " " "

We bought a " " " " Thank you. --Plin

[Pete]

Is this use of quotation marks proper in English? Ideally the quotation marks should fall directly under the word which they replace.


He bought a thousand mangos for resale.

She bought a '' '' '' ''

They bought a " " " "

We bought a " " " "

Thank you. --Plin

No, I don't think it's really standard, or rather, it's standard only in very informal use. You do see it done sometimes in informal writing. I've always seen the "double quotes", not 2 single quotes, used in this way. I generally hear them called "ditto marks" when they are used this way.

Note: when you use these "ditto marks", you must make sure that they come under the word that is being quoted. If your word processor or on-line display cannot guarantee that, don't use them.