For today’s Can I Get a Ruling: the dread “quotation marks” for “emphasis.”
As I’m sure you all know, quotation marks either denote a direct quote or to show irony or euphemism. They’re not used for emphasis. So…. I don’t care what your sign says, I’m not eating your “fresh” mozzarella.
The improper use of quotations is properly skewered in the hilarious site The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks. My particular favorite is the sign that “pool” “closed”, which definitely leaves a lot to the imagination.
What I find especially “odd” about “improper quotation marks” is that it seems to be mainly a generational thing: it’s most common among people over the age of 50. Was there a golden era of quotation marks where they were used for emphasis and we “younguns” just don’t know what we’re “talking about?”
What’s the story on “incorrect” quotation marks? Anyone?
Ryan Smith says
My mother is a frequent random quotation mark user. She'll often leave notes for me at home that read like:
Went to the "store." Be "back" around "5:30."
"Love,"
Mom
Perhaps my mother has a secret life of which I am not aware…
Lady Glamis says
I just saw a few examples of this today around the blogosphere, and was chuckling to myself.
My vote is that quotation marks should never denote emphasis.
Kiersten White says
I have NO IDEA. I've always preferred RANDOM ALL CAPS to show what NEEDS to be EMPHASIZED.
Quotation marks are way funnier though. After all, I'm "smart" about things like this.
Etiquette Bitch says
I've no idea of the story, Nathan…sorry.
My favorite misused quotation mark story: My friend's band (name: West of Rome) was playing their first-ever gig in a dive bar somewhere in Wisconsin. How the bar publicized it: with a torn-off piece of cardboard in the window that read:
Tonight: West of Rome "BAND"
I think he still has it.
ghostwriter says
All punctuation with the exception of periods will soon be a thing of the past with the text message generation.
But hey, no worries! Danielle Steele proves you can use one-third as many periods as other authors, and still hit the bestseller list.
Steven Till says
I'm not sure why some feel the need to overuse or incorrectly use quotation marks. Generally, isn't the accepted style for emphasis to use italics?
I always think about the SNL Chris Farley skit when someone incorrectly uses quotation marks.
150 says
My theory is that quotation marks are a stand-in for stars or other wingdings that would indicate emphasis, and it doesn't occur to the users that the quotation-mark-wingding adds a different meaning.
My side theory is that since quoted endorsements add emphasis (Frosted Flakes: "They're great!"), some people make the connection between quotation marks and emphasis rather than endorsement and emphasis (Joe's Pizza: It's "great"!)
Yat-Yee says
Ryan: your mother really wrote that??!!
I don't know if it is a generational thing, I have seen it used by people of all ages.
How many pairs of quotation marks will we see in the comments today?
a cat of impossible colour says
Aaaargh! Horrible, horrible. I used to work as a copywriter, and one of my clients owned a hairdressing salon with the slogan '"best" "haircuts" ever!' I hate to think. And I never managed to persuade him to change it.
Austin Williams says
@ ghostwriter – Thanks for reminding me of why slitting my wrists right now might not be such a bad idea.
Anyway…
Coulnd't help but think of this: https://willwm.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/quotationmarks-thumb.jpg
Sandra D. Coburn says
My mother does this, too. She also underlines and double underlines special words on greeting cards. She is 84. I have a little over three years before I hit "50." I hope I don't start with the quotation marks for "emphasis" any time soon!
Catharine says
My grandfather, born in 1900,an erudite English Major and ferocious student of literature often used quotation marks to highlight or accent something in a letter. I think we take for granted crazy fonts, bolding, italics,etc. Back in the day when the ACTUAL pen was mightier…the quotation marks may have served a higher purpose!
The Amateur says
Ha ha! I've never seen that and I can't believe people actually do that. I use italics and I also use them incorrectly, some would say, to separate a character's thoughts from the rest of the action. I guess really it's a stylistic choice in that instance. Also, enough with the finger quotation marks while talking. It's. Annoying. 😉
Travener says
I can live with quotation marks. What drives me nuts is unnecessary apostrophes ("I'll send you some photo's of our trip") or people who overcorrect and use "I" when they should use "me" because they were all taught it's bad to say "Frank and me went to the store." So they wind up saying gibberish like, "He wound up giving the beer to Mike and I."
My old 4th-grade teacher Miss Koykendall taught me way back in 1961 that all you had to do if you weren't sure was take "Mike" out of that sentence and say it to yourself again and see if it sounded right using "I" instead of "me."
(You note my generous use of quotation marks.)
Don't even get me started on "it's" when you mean "its"…
http://www.thebiglitowski.blogspot.com
Dawn VanderMeer says
Like Steven Till, I thought italics were okay for emphasis (as long as they're not overused). Are they?! Ah! Self-doubt! I loved that quote from that Gwyneth Paltrow movie about putting the wrong emPHAsis on the wrong syllAble. (I didn't care for the movie, just the quote.)
Brenda says
Can I get a "Ruling".
Well, to me, that sums up the intention of this kind of use of quotation marks. i.e. not so much for emphasis, but to denote 'so-called'. I mean, the comments consensus is not really going to be an actual ruling is it?
Vegas Linda Lou says
Well, I'm over 50 and I sure as hell know how to use quotation marks. I'm always surprised that people don't know this simple rule:
Commas and periods always go INSIDE closing quotation marks. Always, always, always!
(Well, maybe not always. British usage calls for the period outside the closing quotation. But if you’re an American writer, commas and periods always go inside.)
Incorrect: “Altoids”, I said, “are the heroin of breath mints”.
Correct: “Tic-Tacs,” I continued, “are nothing but a gateway mint.”
Laura Martone says
I'm with Lady Glamis… quotation marks are not intended for emphasis… they're for irony. So, the "pool" "closed" sign leaves A LOT to the imagination indeed…
Wilkie says
Hilarious!
"As I'm sure you all know, quotation marks either denote a direct quote or to show irony or euphemism. They're not used for emphasis."
YES, yes, Nathan, you are absolutely right. I haven't encountered the emphatic quote before, but I'll have to check out that site for a good laugh.
There's also a scene in the movie Role Models that makes fun of the emphatic use of quotes in speech- Jane Lynch/Paul Rudd/ Seann William Scott= awesome- you should all check it out.
Liz Wolfe says
ARGGGHH! The misuse of quotations is one of my pet peeves. I don't think it's generational because I'm (sigh) over 50 and I've never heard that it's correct to use them for emphasis.
What's really amusing is the mis-use of air-quotes.
Anna Claire says
Catherine has a really good point; I never thought of that. My aunt, one of the few who still sends me letters (and not e-mail; she doesn't own a computer) also uses quotations for emphasis. She's a former history teacher, but she's also 58.
As an editor, I love seeing grammar/punctuation posts. Whatever helps get the word out!
Sally F says
Various language peeves jockey for top of my list. Random use of quotation marks ranks in this week's top five, thanks to a special "offer" left on my doorknob (which "expires" Wednesday, I kid you not).
I hadn't thought of it as a generational thing. I assumed these were the same people who believe changing a font (or color) mid-headline makes for great design emphasis.
Kourtnie McKenzie says
According to Wikipedia:
"Another common use of quotation marks is to indicate or call attention to ironic or apologetic words:
He shared his “wisdom” with me.
The lunch lady plopped a glob of “food” onto my tray.
To avoid the potential for confusion between ironic quotes and direct quotations, some style guides specify single quotation marks for this usage, and double quotation marks for verbatim speech. Quotes indicating irony, or other special use, are sometimes called scare, sneer, shock, distance, or horror quotes. They are sometimes gestured in oral speech using air quotes."
So apparently there's a lot of irony in that closed pool! 🙂
Corrie says
Oops. Sorry about the deleted post.
What I "meant" to do was add the hyperlink:
Chris Farley's Bennet Brauer gets the prize for best use of quotation marks.
Rebecca Knight says
I think you should "always" use quotation marks to emphasize something :D. And by "always" of course, I mean never.
Laura Martone says
I have to agree with Travener re: "it's" versus "its." The misuse of either typically drives me batty!
As I mentioned in a recent blog post, I once opened a fortune cookie, only to find the following statement: "It could be better, but its good enough." Given the context of the avoid-perfectionism adage, the misuse of "its" was freakin' hilarious… and I still have that fortune taped to my laptop as a reminder that we all make mistakes sometimes…
Rick Daley says
It's a natural part of the evolution of our language. Or an eventuality of the intelligent design of our language, whichever perspective you prefer.
Therefore I don't think it's "incorrect" it's just "annoying."
WORD VERIFICATION: chypton. Golf terminology. EX: My ball landed near the green so I chypton.
Jael says
There are few things more "wrong" and "troubling" to me than these "unnecessary" quotation "marks". "Thanks" for bringing this "issue" to our "attention"… "Nathan."
PS – That blog is my "favorite."
Marilyn Peake says
My impression is that quotation marks were used in place of "italics" when typewriters made it too difficult to add italics. I wonder if sometimes the current trend to leave out quotation marks except where absolutely necessary has gone a bit too far.
When characters are thinking rather than talking, the writer’s expected to convey the characters’ thought processes without using quotation marks, and usually without using italics or any other special type of marking.
I’m currently reading THE HISTORIAN by Elizabeth Kostova. The novel is narrated by a woman who’s telling the story of Professor Rossi, as told to her by her father. The novel is excellent, but it jumps around from one point of view to another, tending to use quotation marks only for speech that is taking place in the present tense of any particular story. I read most of THE HISTORIAN so far when I was tired, and last night I had to go back and figure out exactly what had happened to whom, as it was a bit confusing. It seems to me that when the narrator begins talking about her father, the story tends to move directly into her father’s experience, through his own eyes, as he talks about his experience with Professor Rossi. At that point, only Professor Rossi’s statements are set in quotation marks, so it sometimes seems as though the narrator’s still speaking. She might be saying "I" and talking about her father, but the next time "I" is used, it’s actually her father speaking – without quotation marks to designate her father’s speech that she’s introduced. A bit confusing, although I'm still enjoying the novel.
Shakier Anthem says
Yeah, my grandmother often puts quotation marks around my "name" and the "date" when she sends me "Happy birthday" cards. "Love," Grandma.
Apparently, other languages do use quotation marks for emphasis rather than irony, though:
https://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/2007/09/ok-this-is-fascinating.html
Rick Daley says
Vegas Linda Lou, thank you for the "fresh" perspective on mints.
Seriously – that was funny. (Can I say it that way, or is my implication offset by the juxtaposition?)
Bane of Anubis says
How 'bout not using quotes…. hmmm, who does that? Well, if someone doesn't use quotes, why can't someone else use them everywhere?
Anonymous says
Wow, call me shoulder season or over the hill of beans, but I have probably been guilty of misusing quotation marks.
I DO appreciate being gently shown the right way though, so thank you.
It seems to be that quotation marks reached their obnoxious state when comedians started using them on tv in skits. They were used ad nausiam.
Marsha Sigman says
I have no "clue". I'm not anywhere near fifty (and if I was I would lie) but I still "like" them.
Martha Brockenbrough says
Nathan, this is what I said on behalf of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar.
"There's a fine line between funny and annoying — and it's exactly the width of a quotation mark…"
Read the rest: https://encarta.msn.com/encnet/Features/Columns/?article=QuotationMarks>1=27004
(Amusingly enough, quotation mark abuse has led to the arrests of murderers.)
Maya / מיה says
Bothers me, but not as much as misplaced apostrophes. I mean, apostrophe's. AAARGH! So I'm "with" you, Travener. (Hmm. It's fun how quotation marks change the meaning of sentences! For the record, I'm not "with" with Travener. I'm just with Travener. As in, I "agree" with Travener. And by "agree," I mean "agree." Not "'agree.'")
Er, right.
Mira says
One of the benefits of not paying attention to English class in elementary school is that I now have no working knowledge of this thing called "grammer." Um, or spelling, now that I think of it.
Therefore, I am free. I am not enslaved. I am thes Master; grammer must bow before me and serve me in any random way I choose.
And I'm sticking to that. Until I learn the rules anyway.
Nathan, that was a wonderful workshop – thank you. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and learned alot more than I expected! I especially appreciated how thoughtful you were. You ate lunch on your own, just so you could stay available to people who wanted to speak with you. You also varied the activities which kept it fresh and interesting. My only complaint was I wanted alittle more time where you were talking! But it was great, and I'm now happy to know the 'secrets' of a literary agent. Thank you.
Natalia Maldonado says
This reminds me of the episode of Friends where Ross is frustrated with Joey because he doesn't know how to use air quotes correctly. Joey at one point responds: I'm "sorry".
Also, recently saw an ad on Craigslist that said: Writers "needed"
So I was left wondering, did they really need writers? Maybe it was just a longing? Or a whoever-shows-up-we'll-pay-you-25-cents-if-you-can-string-three-words-together type of deal?
Novice Writer Anonymous says
Can't answer the gratuitous quotation mark, but here's another site where you can laugh at it.
https://cakewrecks.blogspot.com
Sam Hranac says
Ben Franklin wrote a rant flaming newspapers that changed his type setting and odd capitalization, which he used for emphasis. (I read this in a "collection" of his "works" called "Fart Proudly.")
I'm guessing that ridged rules around such things were less stylish in days gone by.
Flagman says
“ridged” rules? Don’t you mean “rigid”?
Marilyn Peake says
Here’s another interesting take on quotation marks used for emphasis: Conveying Emphasis by John McWhorter.
Kimber An says
Hate 'em, but I don't know what else to use. My characters are always telepathizising, so italics are out. Maybe we should just write in such a way that the reader can figure it out herself.
Scott says
Too much "thought" for my tired brain. Personally, I like the italics function of Word if I want some significance (notice I didn't use the 'E' word) on a particular word in a particular time. For me, the only time I use quotation marks outside of dialogue or quoting somebody is in the comments of blogs where I'm not saavy enough to figure out high to italicize a word, so I use the dreaded, misplaced quotation "marks", even though all I want to do is italicize the word. Go figure.
S
teacherwriter says
It might be interesting to some to see this list of other uses for quotation marks.
However credible, the following comes from this link: https://www.answers.com/topic/quotation-mark
Signaling unusual usage
Quotation marks are also used to indicate that the writer realizes that a word is not being used in its current commonly accepted sense.
Crystals somehow "know" which shape to grow into.
In addition to conveying a neutral attitude and to call attention to a neologism, or slang, or special terminology (also known as jargon), quoting can also indicate words or phrases that are descriptive but unusual, colloquial, folksy, startling, humorous, metaphoric, or contain a pun:
Dawkins’s concept of a meme could be described as an "evolving idea."
People use quotation marks in this way to:
indicate descriptive but unusual, colloquial, folksy words or phrases
indicate descriptive but startling, humorous, or metaphoric words or phrases
distance the writer from the terminology in question so as not to be associated with it. For example, to indicate that a quoted word is not official terminology, or that a quoted phrase presupposes things that the author does not necessarily agree with.
indicate special terminology that should be identified for accuracy's sake as someone else's terminology, for example if a term (particularly a controversial term) pre-dates the writer or represents the views of someone else, perhaps without judgement (contrast this neutrally-distancing quoting to the negative use of scare quotes)
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), 15th edition[4] acknowledges this type of use but cautions against overuse in section 7.58, "Quotation marks are often used to alert readers that a term is used in a nonstandard, ironic, or other special sense […] They imply ‘This is not my term,’ or ‘This is not how the term is usually applied.’ Like any such device, scare quotes lose their force and irritate readers if overused."
Use–mention distinction
Main article: Use–mention distinction
Either quotation marks or italic type can emphasize that an instance of a word refers to the word itself rather than its associated concept.
Cheese is derived from milk.
"Cheese" is derived from a word in Old English.
Cheese has calcium, protein, and phosphorus.
Cheese has three es.
~Aimee States says
Life before pop italics and crucial caps could be a glittering essay….
Daniel says
A lot of information contained in ordinary conversation is nonverbal, and writers have to be aware of this when writing dialog.
Body language that is emphatic or explanatory can be very clumsy to describe, and information or subtext conveyed through intonation is also difficult to translate onto the page.
Anything you write is filtered through the reader, and when you write dialog, you have to remember that the reader will be visualizing this scene, essentially performing it in his head. Conventional punctuation, your commas, semicolons and full-stops, will help guide the reader. If they don't get the job done, you probably need to revise.
Quotations to indicate irony, or italics or ALL CAPS may successfully serve to make the reader infer the right meaning onto text otherwise stripped of context. I think these techniques are useful for casual e-mails or instant messages or Facebook updates.
But if you're writing dialog in some kind of narrative work, these are lazy ways to to try to provide information, and they tend to signal the writer's limitations.
There may occasionally be a situation where rhythm or cadence of speech is very crucial to what is being said, and there's no other way to supply it. But you want to find alternatives where possible.
I think the best approach is to be conscious of how you're using irony. It shouldn't be hard to avoid a situation where irony or sarcasm must be conveyed exclusively through the character's tone.
My favorite way to deal with this is to pull the irony out of the subtext and put it into the actual text.
For example: "These vegetables are so fresh, they taste like they might have been plucked out of a dumpster just this morning."
You can also use the unspoken thoughts of a perspective character to underscore the irony of the dialog. For example:
He showed up half an hour late.
"I appreciate your punctuality," I said.
Elaine 'still writing' Smith says
Hey Vegas Linda Lou
Commas and "full stops" always go INSIDE closing quotation marks – "periods" go somewhere entirely different.
British usage calls for the full stop outside the closing quotation – only for the ironic variety. 🙂
Liesl says
I don't think it's for emphasis. I think people put quotations when they can't commit to their words. If you put a quotation, it's like saying "I'm not really saying this. It's just an idea. Make it whatever you like best." Since my generation has a problem with the idea of "commitment" this seems to fit. But I don't know, perhaps the quotations also add a "humorous/snarky" factor.
Brenda Pierson says
When I was in school we would use the visual "quotation marks" to denote sarcasm or to point out something ridiculous (e.g. 'She's "sick" today' when we knew she was just ditching school). So now when I see them on something like 'Went to the "store"' I wonder where they REALLY went.
Caroline Starr Rose says
My favorite was a for sale sign that said "brand new" house. What does that mean???