Quotation Marks Around Unusual or Coined Words
The Quotation Mark
Rulebase Summary
Use quotation marks around words that are commonly known but are being used with an unusual meaning, and around words that are coined or made up. However, when a transcript is filled with words that seem to be English words but are not — mispronounced or nonstandard words throughout the testimony — do not quote any of them. Quoting every mispronounced word would clutter the transcript.
Examples
A. She told me to go ahead and calendarize the deadlines.
A. She told me to go ahead and "calendarize" the deadlines.
Coined word -- quotation marks signal it is made up.
A. He said he was gonna "prolly" leave and he had "supposably" told her about it.
A. He said he was gonna prolly leave and he had supposably told her about it.
Pervasive mispronunciations -- do not quote; treat as speech pattern.
Transcript Notes
Quote an unusual-meaning word the first time and perhaps a second time, then stop -- continuing to quote it throughout the same context would be distracting. For made-up words, quoting them alerts the reader that the word is nonstandard and eliminates the need for 'sic.' If the speaker continues using the coined word, quote it once or twice and then leave it unquoted. Some coined words eventually enter common usage -- be sensitive to when a word no longer needs quoting.
Use quotation marks around familiar words being used in an unusual way or as part of a specialized/technical vocabulary — usually only in the first instance within the transcript.
Use quotes around slang with extreme caution; if the slang word can be found in the dictionary defined as slang, quotes are usually not required. Coinages and nonce words are usually quoted in the first instance.
Style Guide References (5)
BGGP
BGGP
BGGP
Morson's
Morson's