Shortest string expressions stable under deleting quotes
C  (4 chars)



The expression

""""


satisfies the minimal requirement of three characters. It encodes the empty string, no matter even if you omit one level of quotes:

 ""


If you want the resulting string to be at least three characters, here is an expression of length 10 which results in three characters of string, namely three spaces:

""   "   "
 "   "   


If you don't like spaces either, here are four printable characters in a length 12 expression:

""/**/"/**/"
 "/**/"/**/


Putting these expressions into a small program:

#include &lt;stdio.h&gt;
#define CASE(s) printf("'%s'\n", s)
int main() {
  CASE("""");
  CASE("");
  CASE(""   "   ");
  CASE("   "   );
  CASE(""/**/"/**/");
  CASE("/**/"/**/);
}


Output:

''
''
'   '
'   '
'/**/'
'/**/'