Template:Single+double

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This template is used on approximately 8,600 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

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.

Shortcut

{{'"}}

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'&nbsp;", 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'&thinsp;", 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).