# Please stop using quotes for "emphasis" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 13, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201 "2008-03-13T01:24:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/1 "2008-03-13T01:24:24Z")
or I’ll have to “kick you in the balls”. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/2 "2008-03-13T01:25:09Z")
“eat my shorts” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/3 "2008-03-13T01:26:36Z")
“Example,” please? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/4 "2008-03-13T01:27:08Z")
Aww, where I come from we call that kinda attitude “having sand in your vagina.” That must be really irritating for you! ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/5 "2008-03-13T01:30:24Z")
Who _does_ this? ---
**Author:** ![Pixilated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aeb1de/32.png) [@Pixilated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixilated)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/6 "2008-03-13T01:31:17Z")
“guilty” sorry!!! bad habit 😛 ---
**Author:** ![coffinjumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@coffinjumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffinjumper)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/7 "2008-03-13T01:57:22Z")
I not only get behind this completely, but I offer a link to one of my favorite blogs. [The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks](http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/8 "2008-03-13T02:01:54Z")
Oh, dear god, yes. I’ve seen this a lot lately. One flower shop I passed the other day had a sign that listed all the occasions they can do flowers for along with this text: We “Deliver” What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is it not really delivery? Do they just chuck the arrangement in your general direction and call it “delivered”? I then saw a van for a plumbing company that had some generic and forgettable slogan. Something like “Quality people, quality products.” Whether they were quoting some other business’ slogan or saying it sarcastically, I couldn’t tell. Between that and the business here that spells the word easy as “Eezy”, I know I could never be a sign maker or sign painter. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/9 "2008-03-13T02:07:47Z")
My favorite was the Day “Care”. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/10 "2008-03-13T02:53:19Z")
I’m not inspired to buy “fresh made” sandwiches. And I think the highway department are assholes for telling us the roads were “slick.” ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/11 "2008-03-13T02:54:33Z")
I just wanted to point out that this thread was listed just after this one: Admiral William Fallon, head of CENTCOM, “retires” That is all. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/12 "2008-03-13T02:55:15Z")
[QUOTE=Cosmic Relief] or I’ll have to “kick you in the balls”. [/QUOTE] Why? Please explain. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/13 "2008-03-13T02:55:38Z")
Frankly, I just had no idea why they were there. It just puzzled me. It is good to know their motivation. To me, they never served to emphasize anything but the fact that the person who wrote it doesn’t know how to use punctuation. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/14 "2008-03-13T02:57:18Z")
[QUOTE=Smeghead] I just wanted to point out that this thread was listed just after this one: Admiral William Fallon, head of CENTCOM, “retires” That is all. [/QUOTE] But to be fair, that was a correct use of quotation marks, i.e., not for emphasis but to point out the fact that it may not have been a very voluntary retirement. And, actually, this points out exactly why the misuse of quotations marks for emphasis is so stupid. To me, I read the thing in quotation marks and they mean to me exactly the sort of thing that the author of that thread meant them to mean there…which is pretty close to the opposite of emphasis. More like “Take this word with a grain of salt.” ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/15 "2008-03-13T03:29:00Z")
[QUOTE=jshore] But to be fair, that was a correct use of quotation marks, i.e., not for emphasis but to point out the fact that it may not have been a very voluntary retirement. And, actually, this points out exactly why the misuse of quotations marks for emphasis is so stupid. To me, I read the thing in quotation marks and they mean to me exactly the sort of thing that the author of that thread meant them to mean there…which is pretty close to the opposite of emphasis. More like “Take this word with a grain of salt.” [/QUOTE] **Jshore** is precisely on the money. The use of quotation marks around a single word or phrase says, “This is what **they** called it, but take the terminology with a grain of salt.” An example from back in the 60s: “After their successful revolution, the ‘freedom fighters’ established a rigid dictatorship.” It’s equivalent to placing a “so-called” in front of the term, but slightly more tactful. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/16 "2008-03-13T03:43:15Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] **Jshore** is precisely on the money. The use of quotation marks around a single word or phrase says, “This is what **they** called it, but take the terminology with a grain of salt.” [/QUOTE] The term for that is “scare quotes.” I think it’s because they’re so “scary.” ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/17 "2008-03-13T03:44:59Z")
This thread has\* literally\*, made me “lol”. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/18 "2008-03-13T03:49:34Z")
“Clarify”, “please”, **Cosmic Relief**. Are you expressing dissatisfation with the “emphasis techniques” used by Dopers on this “Message Board”, or are you railing about “sign composers” and the truly stupid ways they try to draw the viewer’s eye to the point of what it is they’re trying to “promote”? _Chopsticks $1.00 a pair. “What a Bargain!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/19 "2008-03-13T03:55:16Z")
I find this most in places that have signs where you just shift around the letters. Lots of “‘Fresh’ Vegetables” and “‘Great’ Deals.” ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201/20 "2008-03-13T04:01:54Z")
Heh. Every time I see something written “this way”, in my head I’m imagining the “speaker” using “air quotes”. Chris Farley, anyone? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-using-quotes-for-emphasis/441201.md?page=2)