On 6/20/06, Steve Summit <scs(a)eskimo.com> wrote:
I've managed to avoid any insane mutterings about
"smart quotes", too.)
Why the reticence? I want to hear them!
Not that I don't have my own: if you think smart quotes make life
complicated in English, try writing documents that consist of both
French and English. Now, write a document that is about translation
between the two: you will want French text that has English text
embedded in French smart-quotes (« bad English text »). Sooner or
later Word works out that the quoted text is in English, and switches
back to English smart-quotes when you close it (« this English
text... was too long"). Lovely.
Steve