Don’t Embarrass Yourself

Follow these basic rules so your work doesn’t look dumb:

  • Quotation marks at the beginning of a word or sentence are opening quote marks and curl toward the text (“).

    Quotation marks at the end of a word or sentence are closing quote marks and curl toward the text (”).

    These are often called “sixes and nines” because the opening marks are shaped like sixes and the closing marks are shaped like nines.

  • An apostrophe belongs where a letter is missing, as in cookies ’n’ cream or rock ’n’ roll.

    Notice your computer automatically inserts a backwards apostrophe at the beginning of a word! For instance, your computer will do this: cookies ‘n’ cream. This is WRONG! And dumb!

    Know the keyboard shortcut to insert the correct mark:

    To ...

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