What is the appropriate punctuation? Completed, thank you.

[Doddie]

I am writing an article about my late grandfather's experiences during the First World War and would appreciate some advice about the proper form regarding some punctuation. Towards the end of my piece I am discussing the content of my grandfather's Medal Index Card. The card reveals that the Corps he was serving with was the Cam'n Hdrs depot. I have deliberately left out any relevant  punctuation here because, as with my article, I don't know what the proper form is. If I quote seperately the  words Corps and Cam'n Hdrs Depot, are they both in inverted commas and if so should they be double or single?  Also, does it make a difference if the the word corps is in fact a section heading on the Medal Index Card?  Do italics come in to play here? By and large my knowledge of these things (grammar, punctuation ans spelling) is quite good but I have to admit I get confused on some of the finer points. All feedback appreciated.

Regards

Doddie

[jds1949]

If you are quoting directly from the medal card or another document then I would place the exact words from the document inside double quotaion marks or use italics - so either "Cam'n Hdrs depot" or Cam'm Hdrs depot. If you want to ensure that everyone knows that the form of words is exactly as you have quoted, then putting [sic] immediately following shows that you are quoting the words exactly as was written in the original, even though you know the form to be wrong or unusual.

jds1949

[John915]

Good evening,

I left school 47 years ago so i'm a little rusty. The apostrophies go in where letters have been left out so cameron becomes cam'n, highlanders becomes h'd'rs (or is the rule only one apostrophy per word so h'drs or hd'rs).

The permutations could be endless and unfortunately OH has already gone up the wooden hill and down sheet lane to rip up daisies.

John915

[Alexander.]

Hi Doddie,

I'm a little confused why you would be quoting "Cam'n Hdrs Depot". Surely in your article you can use the full name (Cameron Highlanders) rather than the abbreviation. Therefore, you can just say:
"The card reveals that the corps he was serving with was the Cameron Highlanders depot."
No inverted commas necessary, no capital C on corps because it is not a proper noun.

You do not usually need to quote common names and words unless it serves a purpose (or would otherwise be plagiarism). The abbreviation is not really meaningful to the reader - it's just the shorthand on the medal index card.

Alexander

[Mogsmum]

Based on what we do at work, i.e. the Civil Service - and the way my daughters were told to do it when doing their Uni dissertations and theses - if you are quoting the exact words as they appear on the card, then they should be italicised within single quote marks - if you wish, you may follow this up with an 'explanation' in brackets so you might put ... 'Cam'n Hdrs Depot' (Cameron Highlanders' Depot).   You will note, I've put the apostrophe after the word Highlanders in the explanation - this is because the regiment is known as Highlanders, is therefore already a plural, so the possessive goes after the final letter.

Thereafter, it's perfectly acceptable to use words such as Cameron Highlanders, Depot, Corps, Regiment or any other words which appear on the card without quote marks - just because you are repeating words which appear, does not mean you have to automatically put them within quote marks.

[Doddie]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm glad to discover there are various options available to me.

Regards

Doddie