When should you use italics to reference an example or quote, and when should it be inside apostrophes instead?
(I am trying to tighten up here. I write in advertising and we break so many rules with the register being conversational, I’ve fallen out of touch with some basics.)
Here are some examples:
- A man said the other day, 'why are all the trees orange?'
- A man said the other day, why are all the trees orange?
Also, should the above quote begin with a capital letter, and must there always be a comma preceding it?
Best Answer
In books, you often see the italics used to distinguish when something is said mentally, instead of out loud. Sometimes italics are also used for flashbacks.
In advertising, I suppose you could use italics to make people ponder the quote more, irrespective of whether the quote is said out loud, or only thought internally.
In the first of your two examples, the first part ("A man said the other day") and the second part ("Why are all the trees orange?") get treated "evenly" by the human eye, and the quotes "clutter" the visual.
In the second example, the eyes are drawn toward the italics, and the first part seems more incidental. I can see why advertisers would prefer this format.
In general, I think the quote should begin with a capital letter. As I showed in my example, there should be punctuation before the "quote" – but it needn't always be a comma.