[Rincewind]

JSmiley's interpretation is news to me, and I speak British English. Though the question is vague as to what differences might there be. I was taught that " and ' were quite interchangeable but that you must be consistent within the one article, book, letter etc. So if you start using " you keep using ". If you start using ' then you keep using'.

I was also taught that if you quotation contains a quotation then you switch forms. For example: She said that, "John said, 'I love you.' before they kissed." Here there is a quote within a quote so the inner quote uses different marks form the outer quote.

I was reading the book, "Eats, shoots and leaves." a few days ago. In this book it describes a difference between American and British English with regards to the closing punctuation of the quotation. According to the book, American English requires punctuation, such as a coma or full stop, before the closing quotes; but British English is looser on this, allowing the punctuation to fall after the close of the quote.

The difference in, "Eats, shoots and leaves." is also strange to me. I learned that you needed punctuation before opening the quotes and before closing, but never after. Which is not what the author describes a the British way.