# Putting British pub names in quotation marks **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2016, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-british-pub-names-in-quotation-marks/742671 "2016-01-10T05:03:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-british-pub-names-in-quotation-marks/742671/1 "2016-01-10T05:03:54Z")
I have a 1974 American reprint of Arthur C. Clarke’s 1957 short story collection _Tales from the “White Hart.”_ On every reference, in title as well as text, the name of the pub is in quotation marks. The Wiki article lacks the quotation marks, though, as apparently did the cover of the first edition: [Tales from the White Hart - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_White_Hart) I’ve been in the UK several times and don’t remember ever seeing pub names in quotation marks when referred to in print. Was it an old custom? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-british-pub-names-in-quotation-marks/742671/2 "2016-01-10T05:56:39Z")
I’m pretty sure a style guideline said that you used “” to indicate that the White Hart was a named entity, and not just a pale stag of no particular speciality. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-british-pub-names-in-quotation-marks/742671/3 "2016-01-10T06:11:07Z")
Is it perhaps the equivalent of italics? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-british-pub-names-in-quotation-marks/742671/4 "2016-01-10T08:48:22Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’m pretty sure a style guideline said that you used “” to indicate that the White Hart was a named entity, and not just a pale stag of no particular speciality. That sounds like the most likely explanation, but it would be a very old-fashioned style guide if so: I’d associate it with Victorian habits. These days, surely the initial capitals that are there anyway are enough to indicate a proper noun. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-british-pub-names-in-quotation-marks/742671/5 "2016-01-10T11:30:11Z")
But the author has orbital locations named after him, so he can get away with it. (why is there a question about ONE author style in ONE book ? ) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-british-pub-names-in-quotation-marks/742671/6 "2016-01-10T14:22:45Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I have a 1974 American reprint of Arthur C. Clarke’s 1957 short story collection _Tales from the “White Hart.”_ On every reference, in title as well as text, the name of the pub is in quotation marks. The Wiki article lacks the quotation marks, though, as apparently did the cover of the first edition: [Tales from the White Hart - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_White_Hart) > > I’ve been in the UK several times and don’t remember ever seeing pub names in quotation marks when referred to in print. Was it an old custom? Wild guessing: Sometimes pubs have names, but are often referred to by nicknames - C. S. Lewis often went to a pub named The Eagle and Child, but often called “The Bird and Baby.” Putting quotations around “The White Hart” might indicate that the “The White Hart” isn’t the pub’s real name, but just a nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-british-pub-names-in-quotation-marks/742671/7 "2016-01-10T14:34:34Z")
It’s a stylistic choice. I remember old publications which put ‘Spitfire’ and ‘Hurricane’ into quotation marks. It’s not common now. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-british-pub-names-in-quotation-marks/742671/8 "2016-01-10T18:02:47Z")
A lot of old pubs don’t even _have_ official names. The place might have a sign out front with a picture on it, and everyone refers to it by a description of the picture. The same pub that one person calls the “White Hart”, another might call the “Snowy Stag”. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-british-pub-names-in-quotation-marks/742671/9 "2016-01-10T18:05:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > A lot of old pubs don’t even _have_ official names. The place might have a sign out front with a picture on it, and everyone refers to it by a description of the picture. The same pub that one person calls the “White Hart”, another might call the “Snowy Stag”. Thanks. I had an inkling that that might be the case, but it’s nice to see confirmation. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-british-pub-names-in-quotation-marks/742671/10 "2016-01-10T22:22:29Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Thanks. I had an inkling that that might be the case, but it’s nice to see confirmation. I see what you did there. Thanks, all.