Definition:
The reproduction of the words of a writer or speaker. In a direct quotation, the words are reprinted exactly and placed in quotation marks. In an indirect quotation, the words are paraphrased and not put in quotation marks. See also:
Etymology:
From the Latin, "of what number; how many"Examples and Observations:
- "Ground rules for conversation between reporters and sources come in commonly accepted categories: 'On the record' means that everything said can be used, and the speaker can be quoted by name.
"'Not for attribution' and 'on background' are used to mean that a source's comments can be quoted, but he or she must not be directly identified."
("Forms of Speech," Time, Aug. 27, 1984) - "Poor writers are apt to overuse block quotations . . .. Those who do this abrogate their duty, namely, to write. Readers tend to skip over single-spaced mountains of prose, knowing how unlikely it is that so much of a previous writer's material pertains directly to the matter at hand.
"Especially to be avoided is quoting another writer at the end of a paragraph or section, a habit infused with laziness. Skillful quoters subordinate the quoted material to their own prose and use only the most clearly applicable parts of the previous writing. And even then, they weave it into their own narrative or analysis, not allowing the quoted to overpower the quoter."
(Bryan Garner, Garner's Modern American Usage. Oxford Univ. Press, 2003) - "The accuracy of quotations in research writing is extremely important. They must reproduce the original sources exactly. Unless indicated in brackets or parentheses . . ., changes must not be made in the spelling, capitalization, or interior punctuation of the source."
(MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 2009) - "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Pronunciation: kwo-TAY-shun
