I have noticed this construct used many times in published articles, in this context:
``I wasn’t there", said the suspect.
Obviously the `` is an opening quote and the " a closing quote, but why not just use " in both cases?
It’s only used when the article is rushed to press, so the wind blows the " back.
Same reason we don’t use )parentheses) like that. One’s an opener, one’s a closer.
Well traditionally there were seperate characters for opening and closing quotation marks, but we got stuck with the one double-quote character on typical keyboards. So this is a way to make up for it.
You’ll notice that MS-Word obnoxiously changes " characters to open and close quotation marks, depending where you put them. (And it’s usually correct.)
Isn’t it a user-preference option in Word that you can turn off and get regular straight quotes if you prefer them?
(I’m not a Word user, but this is true of other word processors)
Replacing “Straigt Quotes” with “Smart Quotes” is an option in Tools->AutoCorrect->AutoFormat As You Type tab.
Some typesetting software (well, TeX anyway) recognize as an opening quote and '' as a closing quote. People who use that kind of software a lot start using the ‘’ convention elsewhere as well, which is why you see it in newsgroup postings, etc.
Old-school type (as in typesetting) guy checking in here.
IMHO, “straight quotes” or “dumb quotes” are an abomination to proper typesetting. In fact, technically, there is no such thing; there are open quotes, closed quotes and ditto marks.
And here I thought this was going to be about ellipses.
…what a disappointment…
Is anyone here aware of a reason why there is a traditional-looking opening quote, and not a closing one? Why one “Smart” quote and one “straight” one?
-j
Cargogal, what a smartass you are And in only your ninth post. Keep up the good work 
LOL
As I see it, computers have easy access to a ditto mark, an apostrophe, and a thing I’ve usually heard called a “backtick.” None of which is an opening quote or closing quote like typesetters want. When a web site uses the double-backtick as an opening quote, they usually use a double-aspostrophe as the closing quote.
However, I frequently copy a web page’s text to the clipboard and paste it in plain text fashion into an e-mail, which is usually viewed with a fixed-space font. The double-backtick and double-apostrophe look especially ugly in fixed-space fonts, so I wish they would just use the ditto mark. It’s a compromise, but a better one that the other way IMHO.
Thanks to all who responded. I think I learned something.
Thanks to The Great Gazoo for the most original answer and, gigi sorry if I disappointed you.