Complex issue: OK. I have a line of dialog where the person is directly quoting another person. I understand this to be " - for the person speaking ' for the quotes inside the quotes BUT... the person says: "does this ring a bell? ' or should it be "does this ring a bell: ' OR.... "does this ring a bell?: ' hmmm....
Either of the two first ones should work, but DEFINITELY not the last one. Also, the 2 then 1 rule applies in America, but in England, it's ' THEN ".
Ivan is right, but just to clear up his last point: In England ' is used for speech, and " for quotes.
colon wouldn't be used for dialog... but if it's a quoted written piece and the original has a colon, then it would be used...
Thanks, guys. I guess the main question was that - if I come to a point inside dialog where the person is asking a question at a point where you would use a colon, do you use both... so now I see. thanks!
...you wouldn't properly use a colon for dialog in any case, so i don't get what you're saying there... if you mean a person asks a question and then continues the dialog, this is how it could be done [i'm guessing at what you wanted]:
