--- a/libinterp/corefcn/quadcc.cc
+++ b/libinterp/corefcn/quadcc.cc
@@ -1495,7 +1495,7 @@
 @end example\n\
 \n\
 @noindent\n\
-which uses the element-by-element `dot' form for all operators.\n\
+which uses the element-by-element ``dot'' form for all operators.\n\
 \n\
 @var{a} and @var{b} are the lower and upper limits of integration.  Either\n\
 or both limits may be infinite.  @code{quadcc} handles an inifinite limit\n\

--- a/libinterp/interpfcn/file-io.cc
+++ b/libinterp/interpfcn/file-io.cc
@@ -1139,7 +1139,7 @@
 \n\
 In the second form, read from @var{fid} according to @var{template},\n\
 with each conversion specifier in @var{template} corresponding to a\n\
-single scalar return value.  This form is more `C-like', and also\n\
+single scalar return value.  This form is more ``C-like'', and also\n\
 compatible with previous versions of Octave.  The number of successful\n\
 conversions is returned in @var{count}\n\
 @ifclear OCTAVE_MANUAL\n\

--- a/libinterp/octave-value/ov-java.cc
+++ b/libinterp/octave-value/ov-java.cc
@@ -1321,7 +1321,7 @@
       else
         {
           found = 0;
-          error ("cannot convert matrix of type `%s'", val.class_name ().c_str ());
+          error ("cannot convert matrix of type '%s'", val.class_name ().c_str ());
         }
     }
   else if (val.is_cellstr ())

--- a/scripts/image/colormap.m
+++ b/scripts/image/colormap.m
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@
 ## @code{jet} map with 64 entries).  The default colormap is returned.
 ##
 ## @code{colormap ("list")} returns a cell array with all the available
-## colormaps.  The options `register' and `unregister' will add or remove the
-## colormap @var{name} to it.
+## colormaps.  The options @code{"register"} and @code{"unregister"}
+## will add or remove the colormap @var{name} to it.
 ##
 ## With no arguments, @code{colormap} returns the current color map.
 ## @seealso{jet}

--- a/scripts/image/rgbplot.m
+++ b/scripts/image/rgbplot.m
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
       set (gca, 'ytick', []);
       colormap (cmap);
     otherwise
-      error ("rgbplot: unknown style `%s'", style);
+      error ("rgbplot: unknown style '%s'", style);
   endswitch
   xlabel ("color index");
 
@@ -88,5 +88,5 @@
 %!error rgbplot (1,2)
 %!error <CMAP must be a valid colormap> rgbplot ({0 1 0})
 %!error <STYLE must be a string> rgbplot ([0 1 0], 2)
-%!error <unknown style `nostyle'> rgbplot ([0 1 0], "nostyle")
+%!error <unknown style 'nostyle'> rgbplot ([0 1 0], "nostyle")
 

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/xor.m
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/xor.m
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
 ## -*- texinfo -*-
 ## @deftypefn {Mapping Function} {@var{z} =} xor (@var{x}, @var{y})
-## Return the `exclusive or' of the entries of @var{x} and @var{y}.
+## Return the @dfn{exclusive or} of the entries of @var{x} and @var{y}.
 ## For boolean expressions @var{x} and @var{y},
 ## @code{xor (@var{x}, @var{y})} is true if and only if one of @var{x} or
 ## @var{y} is true.  Otherwise, for @var{x} and @var{y} both true or both

--- a/scripts/plot/print.m
+++ b/scripts/plot/print.m
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@
 ##     Produces pdf output from eps
 ##   @end table
 ##
-##   For a complete list, type `system ("gs -h")' to see what formats
+##   For a complete list, type @samp{system ("gs -h")} to see what formats
 ## and devices are available.
 ##
 ##   When Ghostscript output is sent to a printer the size is determined

--- a/scripts/special-matrix/gallery.m
+++ b/scripts/special-matrix/gallery.m
@@ -532,7 +532,7 @@
     case (0), # do nothing
     case (1), n = n + 1;
     otherwise
-      error ("gallery: unknown K `%d' for chebspec matrix.", k);
+      error ("gallery: unknown K '%d' for chebspec matrix.", k);
   endswitch
 
   n = n-1;
@@ -839,7 +839,7 @@
     A = eye (n) + theta*P;
 
   else
-    error ("gallery: unknown estimator K `%d' for condex matrix.", k);
+    error ("gallery: unknown estimator K '%d' for condex matrix.", k);
   endif
 
   ## Pad out with identity as necessary.
@@ -999,7 +999,7 @@
       A = toeplitz (c, [1 1 zeros(1,n-2)]);
 
     otherwise
-      error ("gallery: unknown K `%d' for dramadah matrix.", k);
+      error ("gallery: unknown K '%d' for dramadah matrix.", k);
   endswitch
 endfunction
 
@@ -1827,7 +1827,7 @@
       Q = cos (m);
 
     otherwise
-      error ("gallery: unknown K `%d' for orthog matrix.", k);
+      error ("gallery: unknown K '%d' for orthog matrix.", k);
   endswitch
 endfunction
 
@@ -2006,7 +2006,7 @@
     case (2), A = 2*floor (  rand(m, n) + 0.5) -1;  # {-1, 1}
     case (3), A =   round (3*rand(m, n) - 1.5);     # {-1, 0, 1}
     otherwise
-      error ("gallery: unknown K `%d' for smoke matrix.", k);
+      error ("gallery: unknown K '%d' for smoke matrix.", k);
   endswitch
 
 endfunction
@@ -2097,7 +2097,7 @@
       rand ("uniform");
       sigma = exp (-rand (p, 1) * log (kappa));
     otherwise
-      error ("gallery: unknown MODE `%d' for randsvd matrix.", mode);
+      error ("gallery: unknown MODE '%d' for randsvd matrix.", mode);
   endswitch
 
   ##  Convert to diagonal matrix of singular values.
@@ -2616,7 +2616,7 @@
     A = diag (abs (-m:m)) + E + E';
 
   else
-    error ("gallery: unknown N `%d' for wilk matrix.", n);
+    error ("gallery: unknown N '%d' for wilk matrix.", n);
   endif
 endfunction
 

--- a/scripts/statistics/base/quantile.m
+++ b/scripts/statistics/base/quantile.m
@@ -308,8 +308,7 @@
 ## quantiles, @var{q} (the inverse of the cdf), for the sample, @var{x}.
 ##
 ## The optional input, @var{method}, refers to nine methods available in R
-## (http://www.r-project.org/). The default is @var{method} = 7. For more
-## detail, see `help quantile'.
+## (http://www.r-project.org/). The default is @var{method} = 7.
 ## @seealso{prctile, quantile, statistics}
 
 ## Author: Ben Abbott <bpabbott@mac.com>

--- a/scripts/strings/strsplit.m
+++ b/scripts/strings/strsplit.m
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@
       args.(lower(params{n})) = params{n+1};
     elseif (ischar (varargin{n}))
       error ("strsplit:invalid_parameter_name",
-        sprintf ("strsplit: Invalid parameter name, `%s'", varargin{n}))
+             "strsplit: invalid parameter name, '%s'", varargin{n});
     else
       print_usage ();
     endif
@@ -207,8 +207,8 @@
     endif
     [result, ~, ~, ~, matches] = regexp (str, del, "split");
   else
-    error ("strsplit:invalid_delimitertype", 
-      sprintf ("strsplit: Invalid DELIMITERTYPE"))
+    error ("strsplit:invalid_delimitertype",
+           "strsplit: Invalid DELIMITERTYPE");
   endif
 endfunction