The Problem – Quotation Punctuation Inadequacy
In composing yesterday’s post, Quasi-Quotation Quarantine, I became aware of an annoying and troublesome lack of appropriate punctuation for certain subcategories of quotations. Even excluding the case of unintentional misquotes, given that one can hardly be expected to use punctuation indicating an incorrect quotation if one doesn’t know the quotation is incorrect, several subclasses of quotations exist which could benefit from specialized punctuation.1
I could not, of course, ignore such a challenge and continue to post under the Heck Of A Guy sobriquet.
Quotation Punctuation Proposal
This is both a proposal and an audition of sorts for the specialty quotation punctuation system I’ve devised.2 Click on examples for better viewing.
Quotation Of Uncertain Accuracy
If a writer cannot ascertain the exact wording of a quotation and conscientiously wishes to alert his or her readers to this uncertainty, Questation Marks would be appropriate:
Quotation Approximation
If the writer is confident the quotation is exactly correct or very close to the original, Quoproximation Signs would indicate that gradation of assurance.
Quotation Accurate In Meaning But Uncertain Wording
If the writer is certain that the meaning of the quotation is maintained although the precise wording may vary from the original, the Quoquivalence Symbols would be the best choice.
Quotation Intentionally Changed To Emphasize Not Mislead
If the writer, however, enhances a quotation by purposely changing it, he or she would use these Quodaptation Marks:
Fabricated Quotation
The writer creating a apposite quotation from whole cloth where none currently exists and attributing it to a well known or authoritative individual or using a quotation that the writer knows to be errantly attributed to an individual should, but probably wouldn’t, use the Misattribution Marks:
Corrected Quotation
And, I would personally appreciate punctuation indicating that at least I eventually figured out my mistaken use of a quotation and am now taking corrective action. In that situation, one would bracket the pertinent passage between Semi-Morons.
Bonus – No Fault Fibbing Marks
Given the epidemic of plagiarism,3 faked research, and books chronicling events in the authors’ lives that never happened,4 all of which, the authors belatedly realized, resulted from unconscious and unintentional mental processes, the wise writer will avail himself or herself of these No-Fault Signs (AKA Plagiarism Protection Points, Kaavya Kommas, Frey Fabrication Factors) which warn the reader that the author makes no claim of authenticity or originality of any content published with this marking and therefore cannot be held morally or legally liable.
- That the category of quotation marks is not fully developed should not, I suppose, be surprising since quotation marks are the youngest of the forms of punctuation, having been devised in the latter portion of the seventeenth century. [↩]
- I should mention that at least one other addition to standard English punctuation has been suggested; the Wikipedia lists several proposed formats that are candidates for the Sarcasm Mark, which, it seems to me, would be tremendously useful for clarifying tone in email messages. [↩]
- See Kaavya, Kaavya, Kaavya and Suspicions Raised That Many Passages From Opal Mehta Were Written By Kaavya Viswanathan [↩]
- See Wikipedia article A Million Little Pieces by James Frey [↩]
This is what happens when someone has too much time on his hands. Someone who isn’t satisfied with just watching re-runs of Everybody Loves Raymond. Someone who plays joyfully with language the way others play with themselves.