The Circles of Grammar Hell

Third Circle: Unnecessary Use of Quotation Marks

They may think they’re getting off the "hook,” but in this level quote marks are used as cavalierly as these souls used them in life. Does “groin-dissolving” in quotes indicate that your treatment is not really groin-dissolving, or are the quotes merely being used in the place of italics, you’ll wonder? More importantly, is the “seafood” buffet on “Sundays” “fresh” and “free”? [1]

Ah, quotation marks. Quotes. Double quotes. Inverted commas. Some people just don’t know when to stop using them. Once they’ve found that little double apostrophe thing on the keyboard, they cannot stop tapping it, placing it before all sorts of words they’re not sure about, or to give something emphasis, but which can all too often raise a question mark in the reader’s mind. I mean, when you do see that sign “free” lunch, what are you supposed to think? Is it really "free", or is it ‘free and easy’?

I mean, explain this [2].

If anyone can give a plausible reason why it is necessary to place this very polite request in quotation marks, then a prize can be made available. Perhaps a copy of the Oxford Style Guide?! I suggest there may be punctuation marks missing from this sign, but the quotation marks themselves are completely redundant.

This one on the right is positively suspicious [3]:

I mean, if the officer taking Timmy for a drive isn’t really an “officer”, then it begs the question as to what he is!

And when a massage isn’t just a “massage”, then what exactly is it (below) [4]?

Would you trust this sign? Or maybe you'd be tempted by it for reasons best known to yourself?!

If you want to give emphasis to a word without giving rise to a highly suspicious interpretation, then it might be best to use italics. Or bold. Or CAPITALS. Or BOLD CAPITALS IN ITALICS even. But just hugging a word with double quotation marks isn’t advisable unless you really don’t “want” to be taken seriously as a writer! If you're using a word to have "another" meaning, in an ironic or sarcastic way, it can work, but doesn't explain the "massage" available above so only one interpretation is really feasible - more than a massage is on the cards! To reduce the chances of having your writing misinterpreted, save the double quotation marks for when you’re quoting direct speech, otherwise treat them with the respect they deserve and seek other ways to draw your audience’s attention to your words!