Q. We are using quotes from community leaders who have supported our project over the years. Last year the name of the project changed from the Trinity Uptown Project to the Panther Island Project, and we are updating all materials to reflect that. One of the quotes from a community leader (who is now deceased) uses the term “Trinity Uptown.” What would be the proper way to amend that to show that the project is now called Panther Island while the original quote used the term Trinity Uptown?
A. You can use brackets in the quote to replace the words that are now wrong: Mayor Green said, “The [Panther Island] Project is terrific.” Or you can put an editor’s comment in square brackets: Mayor Green said, “The Trinity Uptown [now Panther Island] Project is terrific.” Or you can paraphrase: Mayor Green called the project “terrific.” You can also use the original quote as it is if it’s clear elsewhere that the name has changed.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I need help with the placement of double, single, double quotes in a short quotation (it can’t be an extract, which would solve the problem nicely). Here’s the sentence: “This book uses Alfred North Whitehead’s definition of concrescence as ‘the name for the process in which the universe of many things acquires an individual unity in a determinate relegation of each item of the “many” to its subordination in the constitution of the novel “one.”’” I feel like that last bit can’t possibly be correct: it’s double quotes around the last word (one), followed by the single quote mark that closes the inner quote, followed by the double quote mark that closes the outer quote. You say . . . ?
A. Believe it or not, that’s right! However, instead of using a block quotation, it’s often possible to avoid quotation mark pileups by paraphrasing the framing quotation: Her book adopts Alfred North Whitehead’s definition of concrescence: “the name . . .”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Can you clarify when a comma should be used before a quote, especially following the word read or said? For example, “Newspaper headlines read, ‘People Are Angry’ and ‘Crime Abounds’” versus “Newspaper headlines read ‘People Are Angry’ and ‘Crime Abounds.’”
A. The use of a comma to introduce a quotation is generally a matter of tradition rather than strict logic. That is, it is optional grammatically, but in most contexts readers expect it to follow said and various other dialogue tags. A comma indicates that the quoted material is seen as syntactically independent from the surrounding text. A quote that is seen more clearly as the direct object of a speaking verb, however, does not need a comma: He wrote “Yes” in large letters.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In my dissertation, I cite a volume of letters in which the editor has inserted square brackets for clarification. So, for example, one passage reads: “Winston, Tito, Ben Gurion, Uncle Joe [Stalin], Bullitt, De Gaulle.” When I’m quoting the letter I’d like to add my own bracketed clarification to Bullitt’s name, but how do I distinguish it from the original editorial matter? CMOS specifies that I should clarify whether editorial insertions are original, but surely there is some method that would save me from having to specify the status of each individual bracket in footnotes.
A. There’s no need for footnotes; just add your initials to your own bracketed insertions [like this —CB].
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. When I proofread, I am often requested to list the corrections in a note. An example of a note is: I recommend deleting “a querulous comment”. I put the period outside the closing quotation mark. I think what I’m reading in CMOS 6.9 would make my punctuation incorrect. Am I correct in this assumption?
A. No. Assuming that you want the editor to delete the words “a querulous comment” and nothing more—not even the period that follows—your punctuation is correct. Ignore the guideline in CMOS; common sense must prevail. You are trying to convey what should be deleted, and you must not put anything within the quotation marks unless you want it deleted. Given the nature of your list, you may wish to avoid end punctuation so the issue becomes moot.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. How does one punctuate dialogue in which one character interrupts another in the middle of a word? The writer whose work I’m editing has used a hyphen followed by an ellipsis, which looks awful to me: “I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself an expe- . . .”
A. The conventional punctuation is a dash: “I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself an expe—”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. CMOS 6.9 and 6.10 clearly define where closing punctuation goes in relation to quotation marks—particularly when the quoted text is a complete thought or phrase. However, where does the period go in text like the following: In the Gross Weight column, type “.01” and in the Volume column, type “1”. I’ve been putting the period inside, as in the following: Change the customer order status from “Delivered” to “Invoiced/Closed.” Which is correct in these types of cases?
A. Please see CMOS 7.79. In your first example, a period after the 1 is likely to be taken as part of what should be typed. At best, it’s ambiguous, so to avoid misreading, put the period outside the quotation marks. This situation is uncommon and an exception to the American rules for punctuating quotations. In the second example, the instruction is clear, so use standard punctuation, putting the period before the ending quotation mark.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. What is the rule regarding quotations within parentheses within sentences—and, additionally, multisentence quotations in same? I know that this is correct: You’ll never catch him working out (repetitions? routine? forget it). But is this correct? You’ll never catch him working out (“No reps and routines for me. I can’t stand them.”).
A. Putting more than one complete sentence in parentheses in the middle of another sentence doesn’t work. We don’t recommend it! If the quotation is from a written source, the original punctuation must be preserved, but if you are quoting something spoken, you can change the period to a semicolon or dash and omit the ending period. Please see CMOS 6.13.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Dear Chicago experts, my question is regarding the use of ellipses to indicate text omitted from quoted material. Does one insert a space after the ellipsis if the following sentence is a complete one? Or should all text should be closed up to ellipses in these cases? The example in CMOS 13.53 appears to have a space but is not clear.
A. Chicago puts a space after an ellipsis regardless of its function. If you have trouble seeing spaces in CMOS Online, use the Control key (on a Mac, Command) with the + key to enlarge the type until you can see it better. Or copy and paste the text into a MS Word doc and make the spaces visible.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is there a term for a quote that comes after a subheading?
A. Sometimes a quote is just a quote, but if the content is similar to that of a book epigraph or chapter epigraph (perhaps including a source line)—that is, something pithy or funny or thoughtful, rather than a run-of-the-mill chunk of supporting material—then call it an epigraph or section epigraph.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]