Concerning

[gozer2048]

I just had a co-worker attempt to correct my usage in a document.  Ashamedly, I had typed "in regards to".  Yick!  However, her correction was not the offending plural.  She wanted it to read "with regards to".  Wow.  Step in the wrong direction there, but at least it let me catch the actual mistake.  "With regard to" is tolerable and has a subtle

Comments

[anonymous]

So I'm doing some reading and realize that all of the statements made by the characters are single-quoted, not double-quoted. Did that change, or was I always wrong? - Alex

[gozer2048]

Check the first and last pages. Maybe the the whole of the text is in double quotation marks.

As I was saying, "Once upon a time, there was a muffin tin named Ruby...

...and that is why we do not use rust for toothpaste." With that, he resumed sipping his gin and borscht.

Seriously, though, I have also noticed an increased use of single quotes. The American rule used to always be double quotes first, but apparently it has long been more lax in Britain. It really just comes down to preferred style, since the meaning is still clear. I think double quotes make a better visual cue. I would strictly demand double quotes for a terrible font, like this one, in which the single quotes and apostrophes are just a vertical line. (But then, I would not use this font for anything published.)