September 4, 2003: Issue 67
SIM STYLE: Why do I sometimes see single quotes used in headlines where we would normally use double quotes?
In display type (headlines, niche caps, and sometimes pullouts), use single quotes rather than double quotes. Traditionally, using single quotes in large type was probably a matter of saving space. That’s not generally a concern in our magazines the same way it would be for, say, a newspaper headline writer, but single quotes are simply cleaner and less clunky in the large type treatments we often use. (This rule does not apply to graphic treatments of quotation marks apart from the words themselves.)
Use your eye, but as a rule of thumb, use single quotes with type sizes over 30 points.
GRAMMAR: Every time I use the phrases “warm temperatures” or “cool temperatures” the copy editors change them. Why?
Although no reader will misunderstand what’s intended by these phrases, temperatures themselves aren’t hot or cold. A climate can be hot or cold. So can an oven or a refrigerator. But temperatures are simply numbers, and “high” and “low” are better descriptors.
incorrect: The plant flourishes in warm temperatures.
correct: The plant flourishes in warm climates.
incorrect: The ceramics are fired at a hot temperature.
correct: The ceramics are fired at a high temperature.
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