In Word, sometimes when i type a quote mark ( " ) at the beginning or end of a word/phrase, nothing happens.
If I try again, two quote marks appear ""Jolly Roger If I then delete one, one remains. "Jolly Roger
A pretty slow way to get work done. This can happen even when i have typed a quote mark at the beginning of the phrase and go to the end of the phrase and have to go through the same ritual again.
The other weird thing: if I type the quote mark at the beginning of the word and nothing happens, then go to the end and type a quote mark, two appear at the end!
As Jolly Roger""
What did you try? I basically turn off everything in Word, as Iâm happy to type in ye olde way, fixing my own mistakes as I go. Automated functions in programs tend to suck, IMHO. Like when Iâm typing a text message and something I didnât type or want replaces what I did type and want. Grrr.
It has to be some kind of setting. It has to do with accented letters, like è Ê ò etc.
I have them on my keyboard, but for those that donât Word has this feature. You type single quote and a letter, and if an accented version of that letter exists, it shows. Otherwise youâll see the single quote and the letter.
For example, â and e would give ĂŠ
â and s would give 's
Yeah thatâs when you hold down alt and type a certain number and it types for instance e with the accent.
My problem is an intermittent one that happens exactly as I described it. : o )
Itâs not only when you hold down alt and type a certain number. It happens also as I described it, and as you described it too.
I googled a bit and found this: http://www.studyspanish.com/accents/typing.htm
It talks about using the alt key, and also about what is happening to you. Itâs not a Word setting as I thought, but a system configuration setting. And it explains how to set your keyboard to do that. It doesnât explain how to get rid of it Iâm afraid.
To get the double quotes, you have to do this (substitute âsingle apostropheâ with âdouble quotesâ):
To type the single apostrophe now, you must strike the single apostrophe key and then strike the space bar. When you strike the spacebar, the apostrophe will appear.
Open Office is doing the same: its a keyboard matter!
My experience is the following on Windows XP, keyboard US (international)
The single quote can be used to get an accent, therefore the single quote is not immediately appearing on your screen, but gets a delay and is remembered by the Operating System. - It depends on the following key what will happen:
The following key is a letter which can have a forward accent, like an e or an a. Then pressing the letter will give the accent letter: typing â and after that the e will give the ĂŠ
The following key is a letter which cannot have a forward accent, like the r or the s. Then pressing the letter is giving back the remembered quote and the letter: typing â and after than the r is giving: 'r
The following key is a sign which cannot have a forward accent, like the same â quote mark. The pressing the second time on the â will give two single â signs: ââ
The following key is the space bar. Then pressing the spacebar is presenting only the remembered â (not followed by a space!).
[INDENT][INDENT]This can be used if you want an â followed by a normal e without accent. Then press ', press [space], press e, result: 'e[/INDENT][/INDENT]
Note: in this way there is a difference between typing straight forward a word between single quotes and adding the single quotes afterwards!
If you type âJolly Rogerâ, on screen it will be: 'Jolly Roger
The last â is still in the memory, and will appear after the following key press!
So if you type âJolly Rogerâ[space]is my name, the result is: âJolly Rogerâ is my name
But if you have already Jolly Roger typed, and you want single quotes around, you must do: set the pointer before the J, press ', then press the spacebar; go with pointer after the last r, press â and again the spacebar. Result: âJolly Rogerâ
If you do this: set the pointer before the J, press ', go with pointer after the last r, press ', then the last â is triggering the first one, and the result is: Jolly Rogerââ
And if you go by mouse/pointer to a completely other place in the document, the memory-â will appear there after the next keypress over there!
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The double quote does exactly the same, but now with a ¨ Umlaut/Diaeresis.
Type " then type open, result: Ăśpen
Type " then press spacebar, then type open: "open
Also here a J cannot have a ¨, but the same procedure is followed.
Type âJolly Rogerâ and do nothing, and there is: "Jolly Roger
Type âJolly Rogerâ[space], and there is: âJolly Rogerâ
Afterwards:
Type Jolly Roger, go before J, type "[space], and the double quote is inserted before the J: "Jolly Roger
Then go after the last r, type "[space], and the second double quote is inserted after the r; together: âJolly Rogerâ
But if you have Jolly Roger, go before J, type ", go after the last r, type "; then it will be: Jolly Roger""
Probably the one time you are typing the quotes right when you are typing a sentence, and the other time afterwards.
Computers are strangeâŚ
I agree, but I donât know a clever way to get the accent letters in an other way, with use of the actual keyboards.
A solution could be to add an new key, only for the accent matter, and use the quote key without the delay; but Iâm afraid the keyboard manufacturers and/or Operating System builders arenât very eager to do this.
Note: Some other keys have the same mechanism: the backwards accent `, the ~ tilde and the caret/circonflexe ^.
Some 15 years ago the office where my colleagues and I where working with MS Word, changed keyboards, and I had to find out why the " key did no longer produce a ". (before that time we had strip glued above the Function keys on the keyboard with all the Alt-number combinations for the accent letters)
As an example for the â~â, I used to press ALT and while it was pressed, keyed â126â with the numerical keyboard. Then release ALT and⌠VoilĂ !, you could see the symbol
Now I donât rember the numbers for those characters I used but basically were those with an accent
