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Inappropriate use of quotation marks


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Every since ya'll pointed us toward that blog that records hilariously inappropriate uses of quotation marks, I notice them everywhere.

 

Today I got a Christmas card in the mail and it put, "Merry Christmas" in quotation marks, which made it seem sarcastic. Cracked me up:)

Edited by Danestress
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My ex husband's grandmother used to send us cards and she would sign them... Love, "Granny" and her last name. Always made me laugh...like she wasn't REALLY granny...she just pretended to be.

 

LOL, reminds me of something that always gets DH and I. The incorrect usage of the phrase 'if you will' as in Christmas cookies, if you will..... Same thing - as if Christmas cookies don't really exist or one has to stretch to imagine them (which might be the case here if I don't start baking). :lol:

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Oh, I've got to see this website! I love inappropriate quotation marks. At the hardware store sometime last year, there was a "free" potted poinsettia.

 

There's a restaurant where "children" eat "free."

 

There was also a lawn service sign stuck in a yard that had grass so overgrown it must have been months since it had been mowed. No quotation mark errors, but I wish I'd taken a picture. :lol:

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My dh and I went and volunteered with his company this summer. They had shirts made up that said

 

Company name "cares"

 

We thought it made the "cares" part very sarcastic.

 

:lol:

 

Now I want a shirt that says, I "Care". Maybe on the back it could say, "No. Really."

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I work with someone who uses "quotation" marks in her "normal" speech. It drives us all "crazy". Even thinking about how she "talks" with her "fingers" making those blasted little "marks" makes me want to tape her hands down! :tongue_smilie:

 

I nearly went crazy just reading that.

Edited by Dawn in OH
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Your shirt should say:

 

I "could care less."

 

 

 

Somewhat "off-topic" :D but it's interesting (to me) that even when negated this phrase (in common usage) means the same thing either way:

 

I could care less.

 

I could not care less.

 

Perhaps they have "opposite" meanings "formally", and a pendant could argue the case that they do express opposing ideas, but almost any American reading the either of these constructions would tale their meaning to be the same, no?

 

"Bill" :tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: I transposed not and could originally. Oops!

Edited by Spy Car
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Somewhat "off-topic" :D but it's interesting (to me) that even when negated this phrase (in common usage) means the same thing either way:

 

I could care less.

 

I not could care less.

 

Perhaps they have "opposite" meanings "formally", and a pendant could argue the case that they do express opposing ideas, but almost any American reading the either of these constructions would tale their meaning to be the same, no?

 

"Bill" :tongue_smilie:

 

Actually, I haven't a clue what "I could care less" means. If one could care less than one does now, that means there must be some modicum of caring left in one. If, however, one "couldn't care less", then it's not possible for one to be less emotionally invested.

 

Therefore, if I have no investment, I "couldn't care less".

 

But if I "could care less". Well. It might mean I care an awful lot! Or very little! Who the heck knows?!?!

 

...

 

Anyway, that's my "humble" opinion. :D

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Actually, I haven't a clue what "I could care less" means. If one could care less than one does now, that means there must be some modicum of caring left in one. If, however, one "couldn't care less", then it's not possible for one to be less emotionally invested.

 

Therefore, if I have no investment, I "couldn't care less".

I think you're right...the phrase is "I couldn't care less." Or how about--I couldn't "care" less. :-)

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Actually, I haven't a clue what "I could care less" means. If one could care less than one does now, that means there must be some modicum of caring left in one. If, however, one "couldn't care less", then it's not possible for one to be less emotionally invested.

 

Therefore, if I have no investment, I "couldn't care less".

 

But if I "could care less". Well. It might mean I care an awful lot! Or very little! Who the heck knows?!?!

 

...

 

Anyway, that's my "humble" opinion. :D

 

This has always puzzled me too.

 

I haven't read through this thread, but I misused quotes this morning in another thread. I'm going back to edit now, before I get used as an example.

 

Adios.

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I nearly went crazy just reading that.

 

Just for fun, I pulled up a document she prepared. I used asterisks to block some information, otherwise, it's all hers! Oh, this is from a single page, large font, document.

 

Due to down stream systems (*******) and “size constraints†of...
...document and should be a very “painless†addition ....
...All “*** level†data elements ...
... Only “changed†data ...
...particular *** “newâ€...
...email indicating “maybe yesâ€. ...
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Actually, I haven't a clue what "I could care less" means. If one could care less than one does now, that means there must be some modicum of caring left in one. If, however, one "couldn't care less", then it's not possible for one to be less emotionally invested.

 

Therefore, if I have no investment, I "couldn't care less".

 

But if I "could care less". Well. It might mean I care an awful lot! Or very little! Who the heck knows?!?!

 

...

 

Anyway, that's my "humble" opinion. :D

 

See...that's why I had to qualify my blanket statement with "almost any American", because there are some over-thinkers out there who actually try to figure out what statements mean :D

 

And it's hard to get though a post without quotation marks :tongue_smilie:

 

Bill (who also finds it difficult to avoid parenthesis)

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I'm an "over-thinker". (Who totally used quotation marks correctly there, to my own great amusement, thankyouverymuch)

 

I could, in fact, care less about weird, nonsensical idioms and horrifying punctuation but, like Lynne Truss, they both annoy and amuse me.

 

Can somebody in the corn belt please explain "de-thaw" to me? Isn't that actually freezing?

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There is a sign on the fountain drink machine in the hospital cafeteria where I work that says:

 

"No" Free Refills

 

It just about drives me crazy every.single.time I see it! I really want to take some white out down there and get rid of the quotation marks. :D

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Your shirt should say:

 

I "could care less."

 

Then on the back:

 

Whaaat?

 

 

That way, no one at all would really know what you meant. In fact, you could "mean nothing".

 

Ha! But look what you started. I couldn't wear a shirt that caused that much commotion.

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Somewhat "off-topic" :D but it's interesting (to me) that even when negated this phrase (in common usage) means the same thing either way:

 

I could care less.

 

I could not care less.

 

Perhaps they have "opposite" meanings "formally", and a pendant could argue the case that they do express opposing ideas, but almost any American reading the either of these constructions would tale their meaning to be the same, no?

 

"Bill" :tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: I transposed not and could originally. Oops!

 

 

I could care less

 

is one of my pet peeve phrases.

 

I never say it.

 

Which is why having it in quotes would just drive everyone even crazier.

 

It's like "Do Reindeer Fly?" from a few years back.

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I have a vivid memory as a kid of the warning (or should I say, "warning") on the side of a swimming pool diving board that said something along the lines of --- Do not dive in the shallow end! It is "dangerous."

 

What I find even more irritating than the weird quotation marks, is the new "fad" of making plurals with an apostrophe and an "s." As in "Two cookie's for a dollar!" I was just informed by a college professor that all her students think this is how to make a plural.

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As in "Two cookie's for a dollar!" I was just informed by a college professor that all her students think this is how to make a plural.

 

Seriously? I would think that any 3rd grade student would know better.

 

Dawn (whose children are only in 1st Grade, so she could be wrong, but also likes using parenthesis)

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