“Needless Quotation Marks”
Sun, Oct 14th, 2007
I don’t often come to these pages to rant about the inanities of grammar and punctuation,1 but lately, one thing has been desperately annoying me, so I must share. It irritates me so singularly and perfectly, and yet, it is everywhere. Of what do I speak? What is this dark and ubiquitous monster?
It is, sadly, the needless use of quotation marks.
Examples of this growing and hideous practice abound. On the road to the next town over, a local merchant proudly advertises “”SPA’s”" for sale. Wrapped in a death embrace with the needless apostrophe, when I see this sign — all blue and white and fucking huge — I wonder: are the spas really for sale? To whom do they belong? Is the author of the sign intending to be ironic? Questions abound.
Even at work, it is simple to find examples of this hideous practice. During the beginning of every school year when families unfamiliar with campus are afoot, the University helpfully puts up cute little signs indicating what buildings are what.2 For some reason, the building names end up in quotation marks on these signs. Carnegie Hall becomes its snarkier cousin, “Carnegie Hall.” When I see quotes around the building name like this, I can’t help but imagine Dr. Evil from Austin Powers standing in front of the building, smirking wildly, saying the building name, and doing air-quotes with his fingers.
Yes, I could just learn to live with it. I could get a grip, recognize that there are more important things to be upset about, and go on living my life. Normally, this is my approach. Lately, though, this has been “getting to me” so I thought a “blog entry” might help alleviate my pain.
# Comment by girl least likely to on Sun, Oct 14th, 2007 at 2:46 pm:
this is one of my pet peeves too! i believe you will enjoy this blog. i know i do. hee.
http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/
# Comment by Alli on Sun, Oct 14th, 2007 at 3:04 pm:
turn to the dark side of grammar irritation….
# Comment by Luke on Sun, Oct 14th, 2007 at 9:51 pm:
I’m undecided as to whether needless quotation marks get trumped by the needless apostrophe of 1980’s, or, my pet peeve, the contraction/possessive of it’s/its which is basically a plague in its pervasiveness. My highschool teachers notwithstanding.
Props to “girl least likely to” (if that is even your real name :D) for the linky. I subscribed.
# Comment by Gigi on Sun, Oct 14th, 2007 at 10:58 pm:
Great Flickr pool on this topic: http://www.flickr.com/groups/quoteabuse/pool/
This is one of my favorites, taken at an anti-war protest in DC:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67977204@N00/62084950/
# Comment by JEN on Sun, Oct 14th, 2007 at 11:52 pm:
Ah, I was also going to suggest the same link to the “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks. Here’s a vegan quotation mark question for you: When I’m writing about a veganized food, I often put it in quotation marks. It bugs me that I do this, yet they help to indicate that the “ice cream” I made from bananas is not to be confused with the ice cream made from the exploitation of cows. What are your thoughts on using quotation marks for this purpose?
# Comment by Bob Torres on Sun, Oct 21st, 2007 at 11:28 pm:
Thank you all for the amazing sources to both annoy and amuse me!
@JEN: I believe your use of quotation marks like this is fine. If it feels weird though, use a different name to mark the difference.
# Comment by Tamara on Tue, Nov 6th, 2007 at 5:57 pm:
This drives me crazy too!!! I recently got a prescription for my dog and the pharmacy label instructions said something like “Give “ROWDY” one pill twice a day.” This annoyed me but I thought maybe it was because Rowdy was JUST A DOG, ya know? But no, I picked up a prescription for my son recently from the same pharmacy, and these highly educated professionals were kind enough to let me know to “Give “CARLOS” 3/4 teaspoon twice a day.” Argh!
Catching up on all the old podcasts Bob (up to April 2007) and heard your pitiful request to come be your bloggy friend so here I am!
# Comment by does amoxil on Fri, Dec 7th, 2007 at 10:43 am:
amoxil work paypal amoxil
# Comment by VincentG on Mon, Dec 10th, 2007 at 4:01 pm:
Apparently Lenin used to complain bitterly about the same thing.
# Comment by avenged art sevenfold on Thu, Feb 28th, 2008 at 9:16 pm:
avenged sevenfold will almost sevenfold avenged