Have you ever talked to a person who used finger quotes incessantly, often times incorrectly?

Excessive and unnecessary use of quotation marks in writing is just as bad, if not doubly annoying.  I for one cannot fathom how the practice of over-using quotation marks in texts began.  Might it have been a side effect of the Ice Age, or was it the very cause of the dinosaurs’ demise?

If anything, it’s something worth pointing out lest you be annoying all your readers (and friends) unwittingly.  So drop that quotation mark, serial offender, and read up before you commit another heinous grammatical crime.

First of all, as the name suggests, quotation marks are punctuation marks used to denote quotation or speech.  Given the dynamic nature of grammar, however, these marks were eventually used for purposes other than identifying lifted phrases or indicating speech.  Here are three levels of quotation mark usage that are prevalent today.  Read through them and see whether or not you’ve been guilty of a crime all along:

Level 1 - Green - Go, go, go!

*Correct

(1) To identify a direct quotation (ex. As Machiavelli wrote, “the end justifies the means”.)

(2) To indicate speech (ex. “I think it’s great,” Miriam said.)

(3) To indicate the title of books, songs, movies, etc. (ex. “The Count of Monte Cristo”)

(4) To differentiate nicknames or aliases from full names (ex. William “Bill” Clinton)

(5) To mention rather than use a particular word (ex. The term “philosophy” is derived from the Greek words “philo” and “sofia”.)

Level 2 - Yellow - Proceed with caution…

*Correct, but potentially confusing or annoying when overused

(1) To indicate irony (ex. He thinks he’s “too good” for us.)

(2) To indicate unusual usage (ex. Jim has a rather “interesting” hobby.)

Level 3 - Red - Stop! Drop that quotation mark!

*Incorrect

(1) To show emphasis (ex. These are really “tasty” dumplings!)

= This is where most serial quotation mark junkies go wrong.  They use the quotation marks to indicate emphasis, not knowing that doing so only makes it seem like they’re completely sarcastic or negating their actual idea.

As for the difference between single and double quotation marks, it’s more a matter of taste than anything else.  Usually, this is how I use single and double quotation marks:

“Didn’t Machiavelli write ‘The Prince and the Pauper’?”

The answer, of course, is no.  Anyone who thinks otherwise is a real “genius”.

XOXO,