Left Double Quotation Mark

Commonly known as an open quote or curly quote, the Left Double Quotation Mark serves as a starting delimiter for speech and cited text. This character belongs to the General Punctuation block and is classified as initial punctuation within the Common script. Unlike the vertical straight quote often found on keyboards, this symbol is stylized with a distinct curve that tapers at the bottom, resembling a pair of small, inverted nines.

In typography and professional publishing, this mark is the standard choice for opening direct dialogue in fiction or framing excerpts in academic essays. It frequently appears in formal journalism to set off specialized terminology or nicknames. While programmers typically use straight quotes for coding syntax, this curly variant is preferred in desktop publishing and social media posts to provide a more polished, traditional appearance to written English and many other European languages.