James and I often rant about unnecessary quotation marks. “Who is being quoted,” is our common refrain.
Bethany Keeley took her curiosity about this phenomenon to new heights and after years of blogging, compile the best examples into The Book of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks. (Guest post by Bethany on the Chronicle Books blog.)
When quotation and attribution is unnecessary
According to the Chicago Manual of Style, “commonly known or readily verifiable facts, proverbs, and other familiar expressions can be stated without quotation or attribution unless the wording is taken directly from another source.”
Which makes me wonder, what unverifiable fact makes a “hamburger” and to whom are we attributing “live” lobsters?
I don’t trust the editorial wisdom of Wikipedia, but according to the masses, common use for quotation marks is apparently “to call attention to ironic or apologetic words.”
Day Old “Bread”
Ironic or apologetic?
Unverifiable fact?
Unfamiliar expression?
I love the quotation use in this one:
Do “NOT”
PARK here
Please
THESE PARKING SPACES ARE FOR
“CUSTOMERS”
Are we calling attention to the irony that this place has customers? Perhaps it’s all just apologetic.
Bethany Keeley’s The Book of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks is a collection of photographs of signs in stores, offices, streets and “facilities” making interesting use of our favourite punctuation mark.
And just because quotation marks can be so confounding. Here is some fun with single and double quotation marks.
Quote: “Don’t be absurd!” said Henry. “To say that‚ ‘I mean what I say’ is the same as‚ ‘I say what I mean’ is to be as confused as Alice at the Mad Hatter’s tea party. You remember what the Hatter said to her: ‘Not the same thing a bit! Why you might just as well say that “I see what I eat” is the same thing as “I eat what I see”!’ ”
The Book of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks by Bethany Keeley
Published by Chronicle Books
Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books