"BTW, Americans call them "quotation marks.""
"I dislike calling them quotation marks when I'm not quoting somebody, OK Bob?"
No, not really. The American term for them is "quotation marks." When you use them that's what you call them. If you've read as much of this thread as I have, you'll note that the British often use that term rather than "inverted commas" and that the term "inverted commas," when applied to most fonts, is literally incorrect.
"You're too young (if you're really as young as you say)"
"Was that remark *really* necessary, Bob? My original post was on-topic and a legitimate question for AUE, in which *I* ... to the 'question' of my age. BTW, 'question' is between inverted commas, not quotation marks, since I'm not *quoting* anybody!"
Your final sentence is a declarative sentence, not an exclamation, so what's the name of that thing at the end of it? Do you object to the phrase "my brother's wife" on the ground that "brother's" is the possessive and your brother does not actually own his wife? Especially in such a topic as English usage, don't confuse the name of something with what it does and how it does it.
"to start playing around with British usages, particularly those the British themselves are abandoning."
"I don't suppose you'd care to support that assertion (with specific reference to inverted commas, perhaps) with some kind of factual evidence or a reference, would you Bob?"
Read the rest of this thread.
Bob Lieblich
Get the point