Nemeaux (1/3/2013)
Although the overall technical correctness of this article is good there is a glaring error in the narrative. There is no such thing as a "single quote" mark. There is an apostrophe mark and there is a quotation mark. A single quote looks thusly " and a double quote looks this way "". What the article’s author refers to as a "single quote" is in reality an apostrophe mark ' and what is referred to as a "double quote" is actually a quotation mark.I bring this up because the difference is really quite significant. Calling an apostrophe a "single quote" is, putting it simply, quite wrong. It would be like calling a “V” a single “W” and calling a “W” a “double W”.
When looking up "quotation marks" in the Oxford Online Dictionary, http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/punctuation, I see no punctuation mark labeled as "single quote". Nor is there a mention of a "double quote".
Yes, I'm tilting windmills. But one must try occasionally, mustn't one?
Thanks for the soapbox.
For your consideration:
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/36046/apostrophe-vs-single-quote
Also here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotation_mark
SQL uses what seems to be called typewriter quotation marks, or dumb or straight quotes. I think there is a semantic difference between apostrophes and single quotation marks. For example, many Penguin books use single quotation marks to set off dialogue. In that case, though, the "open quote" is in one direction and the "close quote" is in the inverted direction. So although you may be technically correct (I'm not yet sure that you are), it seems to be the case -- excepting the symmetrical straight or dumb quotes -- that while all apostrophes look like single (close) quotation marks, not all single quotation marks look like apostrophes. See also:
http://www.ergonis.com/products/tips/punctuation-apostrophes-quotation-marks.php
That typographical distinction doesn't exist in SQL, which uses a "dumb" quotation mark (for lack of a better term) rather than a "smart" one. So you may indeed be titling at windmills, although I happen to find those same windmills very interesting and am grateful that you contributed your comments to this discussion.
- webrunner
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A SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. He walks up to them and asks, "Can I join you?"
Ref.: http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2009/02/sql-joke.html