'get a quote' or 'get a quotation'

I'm not an English native, and as it often happens, I've lost something in translation. I asked a travel agent to 'send me a quote' for a travel we've worked on, and in response I got his logo and company's mission statement. uh ?

Needless to say, this sent me a while back in time, trying to figure out when I started to use 'quote'... There's probably quite a few people (I worked in sales back then) who wrongly thought I was asking for an extra-pinch of wit during our email correspondence.

So my question to you is the following: should I say 'Cloud you please send me a quote' or 'Could you please send me a quotation' ?

More generally, should I say 'get a quote' or 'get a quotation' ? Does that depends on the country ?

PS: And when you type 'quote' in the stack exchange keyword box, it says 'questions related to semi-famous quotations' (!)

asked Jun 10 '15 at 13:23

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Quote or quotation is the same thing... I work in purchasing and generally request a "quote" (RFQ)

answered Jun 15 '15 at 17:44

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I have never heard anyone ask for a "quotation" on a product or service here in America. Things may be different over the pond, but here you usually just ask for a "quote." A "quotation" is usually something for which you would consult Bartlett's (a book of famous people's words), not your insurance company (for a price estimate on a policy).

answered Jun 15 '15 at 19:27

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I've never heard "quotation" used in this context in the States, but in Australia, I have seen/heard both "quote" and "quotation".Therefore, I assume that "quotation" is a British thing, but everyone should understand "quote" because most accounting software that generates these things is written in American English.

answered Jun 13 '16 at 9:49

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Your correspondent's decision not to send a quote/ quotation may reflect volatility in the price of fuel, or other complications in the travel arrangements.

A British business advice site observes:

A quotation is a fixed price offer that can't be changed once acceptedby the customer. This holds true even if you have to carry out muchmore work than you expected.An estimate is an educated guess atwhat a job may cost - but it isn't binding.

Is it possible that your request was refused, even though it was quite clear?

answered Jun 10 '15 at 14:30

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Quote* is a verb and Quotation* is a noun (because it has been modified into one from quote by a suffix). Verbs* signify actions, which are what people do. Nouns* signify things whether they're actual material things or immaterial abstract concepts.

An action usually can not be sent to another person. Every actor must perform an action by themselves. This makes "Would you please send me a quote?" technically incorrect, unless you want him to come over to you, while writing up the bill and leave before giving you a price.

You can send a thing like a letter or a concept put into tangible words, like a number. Your proposed sentence you should be stated as "Would you please send me a quotation?" You may also say:

"Would you please quote the bill for me?"

Although traditional and widely understood, these are somewhat informal and technically ambiguous idiomatic usages. A quote is first and foremost, a repetition of what somebody already said or wrote beforehand. I believe the idea is that in order for the price to be reliably quotable, it should be made into a fixed/unalterable statement.

*All referenced definitions are from Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828).

answered Jun 13 '15 at 18:23

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