Punctuation

Q. Hi, I wanted to ask how quotation marks would be used for a timing, for example, John Cage’s 4’3”. Because this features both single and double quotation marks, how would I quote it? Would it be ‘4’33”’ or “4’33””? Thanks in advance.

A. Confusion abounds here because minute and second marks are not quotation marks. Minute and second marks are straight and slanted (use the prime and double prime symbols: 4′33″); quotation marks are either curly (“4”) or straight but vertical ("4"). You can use quotation marks around minute and second expressions as you would any other quoted text, but if the typography gets ugly, paraphrase instead of quoting, and spell out minutes and seconds.