The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks
The misuse of quotation marks is something that frequently amuses me (hey, scare quotes are a completely different matter!), so I am totally in love.
I remember this one time, my husband and I saw a sign sitting outside of a restaurant that said [Restaurant name] “Now” Open for Lunch. We tried to figure out why on earth the word now would be in quotes, and eventually concluded that they were inviting restaurant patrons to discuss the quandaries of space, time and existence — such as what “now” means, how we know that we’re in the present instead of the past or the future, and whether this moment even exists at all — over their meals. Sounds like a good time to me!
Haha.
“Now” actually makes sense, because they want to be certain that somebody reading the sign at 3 am or some other non-dinner time wouldn’t take them literally- the quotes work as short hand for “currently we are in the practice of serving dinner between these hours.”
I’ve loved that site for ages! It makes me so happy.
If they merged it with unnecessary apostrophes, I’d be in heaven.
I walked past a store recently that had a sign that said
I couldn’t quite figure it out.
Pinko Punko — I suppose that could make sense on some level. But it was one of those portable signs that sits on the sidewalk and the restaurant usually takes in at night!
There’s a whole blog about the use of quote marks for emphasis? Please God I should have that much time on my hands someday.
Looking at the blog, it’s not just emphasis quotes. I have to admit, it’s entertaining me to try to figure out why some of these things would be quoted.
One of my favourites that I personally saw was a sign where the word please was quoted (presumably for emphasis). I can’t remember what the sign was for, but the quoted “please” made my internal voice say it in the most sarcastic manner possible.
“Do Not” play hockey in the hallway
-Seen in the school where I play floor hockey. You’d think a teacher or administrator would have caught that error.
I was sent to buy water wings, recently, and the only ones I found, amidst a bunch of toys, were labeled “”Schwimmflügel”". I was really hesitant to buy them, afraid the poor kid might drown because they weren’t actual swimmies, but just a hoax. Way to go, unnecessary quotationmarks! :)
The speakerphone on my door has a Speak and a Listen button, with a little sign under it that says: Door opener is activated by “simultaneously pressing both buttons!” makes me giggle every time I let someone in.
Whenever I see unnecessary quotation marks, in my head I invariably hear the sentence or paragraph read in William Shatner’s voice, with the “quoted” words denoting Shatnerian emphasis.