Template:Single+double
'"
| File:Commons-emblem-hand-orange.svg | This template should not be used in citation templates such as Citation Style 1 and Citation Style 2, because it includes markup that will pollute the COinS metadata they produce; see Wikipedia:COinS. |
Usage
The {{' "}} or {{Single+double}} template is to be used whenever a single-quotation mark (') would be followed by a double-quotation mark ("), most commonly found in nested quotations (e.g., "I never told the kids, 'Stay outta school'", Bob implored.
), or when a double-quoted passage terminates with an apostrophe (e.g., In 1961, the Beach Boys recorded two demo songs, "Surfin'" and "Surfin' Safari".
) Its purpose is to place a slight space in between the single and double quotation marks for legibility, without actually inserting a space character. It does this with CSS, and does so because the insertion of an extraneous space character of any kind (e.g., or  ) would violate the semantic integrity of web content in an article or another page in which it appears.
- Example (with highlighting added for clarity)
- Using this template:
Smith was reported to have said, "I think the public will not agree with your 'innovative solution{{' "}}, in the March 3 debate.- Smith was reported to have said, "I think the public will not agree with your 'innovative solution'", in the March 3 debate.
- For comparison, here is the less desirable, completely unspaced version:
Smith was reported to have said, "I think the public will not agree with your 'innovative solution'", in the March 3 debate.- Smith was reported to have said, "I think the public will not agree with your 'innovative solution'", in the March 3 debate.
- Compare also the version with a semantically incorrect non-breaking space character:
Smith was reported to have said, "I think the public will not agree with your 'innovative solution' ", in the March 3 debate.- Smith was reported to have said, "I think the public will not agree with your 'innovative solution' ", in the March 3 debate.
- And finally, compare this visually appealing but also semantically incorrect version, using a "thin space" character:
Smith was reported to have said, "I think the public will not agree with your 'innovative solution' ", in the March 3 debate.- Smith was reported to have said, "I think the public will not agree with your 'innovative solution' ", in the March 3 debate.
As rendered, the non-breaking-spaced and thin-spaced versions may look similar or the same as the templated version, but they improperly mix content and presentation.
See also the related templates, {{" '}} and {{'}} for the left-hand side versions (manual and parameter, respectively).