Why is the market flooded with quotation marks?

We've got an imbalance of punctuation in this country: somebody has flooded the market with quotation marks. Are they the newest cheap import from China? Be careful. Excessive use can be toxic.

The stupidest misuse is the trend to put company names or slogans in quotation marks. I see it all the time on company trucks. The first problem is that it's wrong. "Best plumber in town" should not be in quotation marks unless somebody, whose name will be named, said so. "Best plumber in town," Mary Smith says. But why would you paint Mary Smith's name on the side of your truck?

I think people put phrases in quotation marks for emphasis. But did you know it will instead emphasize  the opposite of what you're trying to say. The reader may think you're being ironic. You're not really the best plumber in town, in fact, you're not really a plumber. You just play one on TV.

These are also called scare quotes.

My husband, the "plumber," said he would fix the leak. Thirty minutes later we had to call the fire department to shut off the water.

The other stupid thing about putting quotation marks around your name or slogan is that it makes it more difficult to read. It clutters the spot you're trying to use for communications. Use as little punctuation as you can when you're painting the side of your truck, or putting a headline on your website, or doing anything in print.

You probably won't need to do this often, but you can put a word in quotation marks if you're talking about the word and don't want it to be read in the context of the sentence.

Y'all don't know how to spell "y'all."

Unless you are quoting somebody or giving the title of short fiction, a magazine or journal article, a chapter in a book or a song track, you really don't need all those quotation marks you bought on sale at wherever you got them.

So take them back. They're dangerous in the hands of a non-professional. Don't try this at home, please.

Comments

[Susan Helene Gottfried]

Yeah, makes me crazy, too. You've put this nicely!

[Anne]

Thank you! And thanks for the visit.

I think we're outnumbered, though.

[Ryan Hayle]

I certainly agree. See one of my favourite sites:
http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/