A sign in a local diner reads: Try "Our" Coffee. As if it's a joke, that the coffee is imposter...

Captain Spaulding

Dec 1, 2007 17:05

Using quotation marks all over the place on signs for no good reason at all was a habit of shopkeepers... [MORE]

Matthijs

Sep 30, 2007 13:31

I agree with the author that quotation marks have somehow morphed into bold face. When I look up something in... [MORE]

Bob in Oregon

Sep 17, 2007 20:21

I used to be an insufferable snob about "verbing" nouns until I started working with early English books. Turns out... [MORE]

D.J. Leslie

Sep 17, 2007 16:34

I don't know if anyone else has commented on the last sentence in your column, Mr. McWhorter, but my strongest... [MORE]

Janan

Sep 14, 2007 17:21

Actually, my opinion differs, I believe there is an emphasis on the "A" to emphasis the singular, as opposed to... [MORE]

Sean F

Sep 16, 2007 01:38

This is completely true. It was in the editorial of the first issue of a para-professional trade periodical. The author... [MORE]

steve hunt

Sep 12, 2007 13:25

People who 'verb' nouns and 'noun' verbs probably have other disgusting habits as well. I try not to associate with... [MORE]

Burt Kaufman

Sep 12, 2007 11:50

I agree with everything John McWhorter has said but I'm still not as sanguine about the security of standard written... [MORE]

Tedd McHenry

Sep 12, 2007 11:30

This article is the perfect forum for me to present my pet peeve: the complete abandonment of the past and... [MORE]

Sean F

Sep 13, 2007 18:27

Heheh, yeah, I'm proud of my multi-pun. :) I first would like to point out that quotation marks never specifically denote... [MORE]

Alan

Sep 12, 2007 11:14

John McWhorter, linguist, has one "very interesting" sentence -- diagram this one, even if you accept the barbarism "different ...... [MORE]

Clifford Huffman

Sep 12, 2007 11:12

"Walking the streets of New York , nothing cheers me up like signs written under the impression that quotation marks... [MORE]

Lahoucine Ouzgane

Sep 12, 2007 11:09

An interesting little piece on a phenomenon that I've noticed myself many times over the years. I always thought that... [MORE]

George Higgs

Sep 12, 2007 10:47

The bizarre habit of using quotation marks for emphasis has been around for decades, and not just in semi-literate signage.... [MORE]

Carl Tait

Sep 12, 2007 10:20

In Shakespeare's day they were used to convey emphasis, and italics (like those I just used) were used to indicate... [MORE]

william flesch

Sep 11, 2007 22:57

It's an ineresting article which could be better - but I don't have the patience to correct Mr.McWhorter's own grammar... [MORE]

John Newton

Sep 11, 2007 19:44

This use of quotes is old. I've seen them on menus and pizza boxes all my life. Oftentimes they CAN... [MORE]

Bob Byrne

Sep 11, 2007 17:43

Are the quotation marks around Eat, Shoots, and Leaves tounge in cheek? Shouldn't book titles be italicised or underlined? [MORE]

Stuart Swirsky

Sep 12, 2007 01:27

Quotation marks have long been misused and maligned. As a teenager in the 1970s, I used to walk home from... [MORE]

John Moore

Sep 11, 2007 15:31

Now I know what the signs mean when I see "'No' Parking - 'Don't even think about it!!!'", and "'No'... [MORE]

Fred Nicol

Sep 11, 2007 15:25

There are now legions of people who have an alternate conception of what quotation marks are used for, using it... [MORE]

Sharni Jayawardena

Sep 11, 2007 13:56

How helpful of the Sun to hyperlink America, Shakespeare, and the Wall Street Journal. Those terms might need explanation to... [MORE]

Tess Tosterone

Sep 11, 2007 12:12

Fascinating! Why not set out on a course to write about as many misuses of our language and grammar as... [MORE]

Bob Neal

Sep 11, 2007 11:48

"Thus I can wrap my head around why someone would advertise their restaurant..." Is this a case of a descriptive linguist... [MORE]

Christopher Thomas

Sep 11, 2007 10:21

There used to be a sign above the entrance to a Chinese restaurant in the suburban community where I lived:... [MORE]

judy kinney

Sep 13, 2007 13:43

This non-standard use of quotation marks reminds me of the consistent use of something like French on Midwestern menus. I've... [MORE]

Larry ten Harmsel

Sep 11, 2007 09:23

Mr. McWhorter correctly observes that a somewhat odd and semi-literate use of quotation marks seems to be spreading across the... [MORE]

richard beck

Sep 4, 2007 08:44

Most language is imitative, not rationally learned. Three possible inspirations for this usage: (1) Movies and books are often promoted with... [MORE]

carolyn wolff

Sep 11, 2007 09:24

I've puzzled over this for decades, ever since I saw a sign in a Colorado cafe that said "Watch your... [MORE]

Bill Marvel

Sep 11, 2007 09:33

I agree that written and spoken language change - otherwise we'd all be able to read past writings like Chaucer... [MORE]

Harry Shannon

Sep 11, 2007 12:22