Re: Misuse of 'quotes'

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- AXIONET -dot- COM>]

At 12:32 PM 6/4/98 +0959, Rev Simon Rumble wrote:
>Our Marketing Director has obviously been reading the output of too many
>signwriters.  He seems to put quotes around "everything" in all his
>sentences.
>
>Does anyone have a diplomatic way of explaining to him why what he's doing
>is "wrong"?  It's "really" annoying me :)

It isn't wrong: it's a widespread usage. However, it's a usage that is
probably better to avoid, because it is misleading. I can think of at
least 3 possible uses:

--Quotes.

--Sarcasm or Humor.

--Inexact phasing.

Only the first one is really useful. If he means to be sarcastic or
funny and can't convey the tone by his wording, maybe he shouldn't risk
being misunderstood. On the other hand, if he's being inexact, that's
fine for a first draft, when getting something down is the most
important thing. However, by the time his work goes out, he should have
replaced the words within the quotation marks with something more exact.


--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Co-ordinator ,Vancouver Technical Communicators' Co-op List
Vancouver, BC, Canada
(604) 421-7189 or 687-2133
bbyfield -at- axionet,com or bruce -at- dataphile-ca -dot- com
www.outlawcommunications.com

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