Wednesday, October 21, 2009

that's uncomfortable


Putting "nuts" in quotation marks makes the flames at the bottom oddly threatening. I don't have boyparts, but I'm still uneasy. Thanks, submitter in Trenton NJ.

5 comments:

mystic_eye_cda said...

I don't wan to be "that person' and yet here I am...

Aren't the quotations marks around the words correct because they are there to indicate humour/that the word "nuts" is being used intentionally incorrectly?

Now around "homemade chocolate" the quotes are probably only needed around "homemade" as the chocolate is probably made in the store. However if it doesn't contain cocoa butter then it is indeed also "chocolate". (Or more correctly chocolate-flavoured)

http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/jargonbuster/q-r/quotationmark?view=uk
round a word or phrase that is not being used in its central sense, e.g.

* the `king' of jazz
* He said he had enough `dough' to buy a car

http://www.quotation-marks.com/emphasis_and_irony.php
Create Emphasis and Irony Using Quotation Marks

Another important use of quotation marks is to indicate or call attention to ironic or apologetic words. Ironic quotes can also be called scare, sneer, shock, or distance quotes. Ironic quotes are sometimes gestured in verbal speech using air quotes:

My jerk brother claimed he was too “busy” to help me.

Ironic quotes should be used with care. Without the intonational cues of speech, they could obscure the writer's intended meaning. They could also be confused easily with quotations.

In a similar sense, quotes are also used to indicate that the writer realizes that the word is not being used in its (currently) accepted sense.

toep said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
toep said...

You said it yourself Brenda you are indeed "that person' and would you please explain the use of the novel double quote at the beginning and single quote at the end as i am not quite familiar
with their use.

At any rate, i don't come here to be educated, only to have a bit of a "laugh', is that too much to "ask'?

21/10/09 8:11 PM

Buffy said...

I'm as uncomfortable with "homemade chocolate" as "nuts". And Brenda, please stop trying to spoil our fun. :(

Anonymous said...

At least, "Brenda" was not "that person" who pointed out peanuts are not technically nuts, but legumes. If she had pointed out that the sign-maker was making sure his audience was not expecting roasted chestnuts, almonds, or pecans instead of simply roasted peanuts, that would have been annoying. At least she wasn't "that person".