Learn English – Usage of imagined content in direct speech

#quotationspunctuationquotation marks

I've seen and used quotations that I'm not sure is correct. If it is correct, I'd like to know what it is called. If it is incorrect, I'd like to know how to punctuate it correctly. Here is an example of this usage in a hypothetical text conversation.

Mary: I cleaned him out.

Joe: Wait, do you mean, "I won all of his money, so now he has none"?

To add some clarity, I believe the second example below also illustrates the same usage of quotes.

Bob: I think I heard him say, "I like you".

Bob hearing "I like you" is purely hypothetical. It's possible that Bob misheard "I despise you" for "I like you".

Is it correct to use the hypothetical content within quotes? If not, how should it be punctuated?

Update

Every definition of quotation or quote, and every rule I've read regarding their usage mentions an origin or source of text or speech. To me, this implies that there must be an original source in order for something to be considered a quote. However, in the cases above there is no original source as the whole quotation¹ is made up.

Is there an authoritative definition of quotation that includes a hypothetical or entirely paraphrased quote¹?
Or if no such definition can be found, is there an example of this type of quote¹ in an authoritative work?

¹The usage of quote or quotation here may be incorrect in accordance with the outcome of this question.

Best Answer

I don't think I can do better than to quote the Wikipedia page, "Quotation marks in English", which says:

Single or double quotation marks denote either speech or a quotation.

A quotation needs a source. Speech, though, just needs a defined speaker.

There IS an exception for paraphrases described:

Quotation marks are not used for paraphrased speech. This is because a paraphrase is not a direct quote, and in the course of any composition, it is important to document when one is using a quotation versus when one is using a paraphrased idea, which could be open to interpretation.

If Hal says: "All systems are functional", then, in paraphrased speech:

Incorrect: Hal said "everything was going extremely well".

Correct: Hal said that everything was going extremely well.

Seems to me that the rationale given there is incorrect, however. This is nothing to do with accuracy of attribution, and all about how a paraphrase is in a different voice; the pronouns mean different things inside the quotes as out.

So in your example:

Bob: I think I heard him say, "I like you".

...the quotes are appropriate even if it's a misquote, because it's still wrapping speech and assigning the quoted pronoun "I" to the speaker, "him", and not to Bob. If Bob heard right, 'he' likes 'you'. Whereas,

Bob: I think I heard him say, I like you.

... has three unquoted "I"s, all meaning Bob. If Bob heard right, 'he' thinks Bob likes 'you'.

To be a paraphrase in the sense of that exclusion, Bob would need to fiddle the pronouns:

Bob: I think I heard him say, he likes you.

So a more general rule might be: quote marks are required for any phrase where "I" would mean something different to the surrounding text. In which case, both of these are OK:

Bob: I said, "I like you".

Bob: I said, I like you.

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