British English and the use of 'single quotes' around words

[Bhbunny]

I've recently inherited a team of British writers, and in reviewing their documents, I'm perplexed by their frequent and, to me, very odd use of single quotes.

For example, the word 'motto' appears in single quotes in the sentence, "Our 'motto' is to put the customer first."

Is this, in fact, a common practice in British English or do I merely have some re-training to do? I would accept single quotes around unusual slang words, but I'm having a difficult time swallowing their use around common everyday nouns.

Your expertise is greatly appreciated.

[Mister Micawber]

I cannot speak for the Brits, but I doubt that it is approved there for that use.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Alan]

Mi Bhbunny,

From my experience I would agree that single quotes around the unusual word would be the norm but only if it was really unusual or was used in an unsual way.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
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