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50 Hilarious Cases Of Misused Quotation Marks That Gave Hilarious Results (New Pics)
For all the grown-up kids out there who didn’t particularly enjoy grammar classes, let’s have a quick reminder what quotation marks are, since it will be relevant to get the distorted and alternate meanings shared in this post.
So, these punctuation marks are used in pairs in various writing systems to set off direct speech, a quotation, or a phrase. You want to use quotation marks with direct quotes, with titles of certain works, to imply alternate meanings, and to write words as words.
There are cases when quotation marks are used not for actual quotes, but rather to carry a connotation of sarcasm, a tongue-in-cheek admission that the thing in quotes isn't actually what it's said to be. When that happens, things take a weird turn.
Scroll down below and see how suspiciously used quotes look and sound in practice. Now, although we cannot really tell whether the authors of these misused quotes used them deliberately or it happened by accident, we cannot deny the entertainment of it all. Psst! More misused quotes can be found in Bored Panda's previous feature right here.
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How Touching
I’m, pretty sure you’re NOT SUPPOSED to put your hands together… it’ll really just make things worse…
Are You Implying It Was Me Who Poop In The Grass?
Threatening Church
“When quotation marks are misused, it changes the meaning of the sentence,” Alex Wong, the marketing expert, book author and creator of “Hijack Copywriter” told Bored Panda in an interview. According to Wong, a misused quotation mark, comma or apostrophe can make a huge difference.
“This can sometimes cause funny unintended results. For example, each of these three sentences have a different meaning:
'She' was filled with excitement.
She was 'filled' with excitement.
She was filled with 'excitement.'”
Wong believes that people fail to pay attention to where they place their quotation marks. “Compared to periods and commas, quotations get much less focus. You’re more likely to use a comma or period in a sentence than a quote.”
The What Sauce?
I Don't Find This Very Reassuring
Alleged “Filmmaker”
“The most common use of quotation marks is for dialogue, such as when someone is speaking. For example, Fred said, ‘The weather is lovely today,’” Wong explained. He said that quotations are also commonly used when you are including a quote in a blog post or essay.
“The researcher states: ‘5 in 10 Americans will get into a car accident sometime.’” He added that he made up this statement.
"Heroes"
He Was Definitely Loved
The Cop Cars In Orange Country Florida All Say Making A Difference In Comic Sans With Useless Quotation Marks. Makes It Seem Like They Aren't Making A Difference
Comic sans is a great font for dyslexics. It's very readable and doesn't deserve all the hate it gets.
The marketing expert and professional writer also shared a couple of the most common writing mistakes that people make. The first most common mistake is “confusing similar words that sound the same but have different meanings. Here are some common mistakes: Your/you’re; Its/it’s; There/their/they're; Whether/weather; To/too/two; By/buy/bye.”
Many people also tend to confuse similar-sounding words with different meanings, Wong argues. For example: “Affects/effects; Further/farther; chews/choose; addition/edition.”The third common mistake Wong notes is using sentence fragments or incomplete sentences. For example, Correct: “I stayed home from work because I had a fever.” Incorrect: “I stayed home from work. Because I had a fever.”
Vaguely Threatening Church
The Place You Go When You Need A Negative Test
This Sign At A Hotel I Stayed In Last Night
It's There To Fool The Horses
Previously, Bored Panda spoke with Searchlights, one of the moderators for the '"Suspiciously" Used Quotation Marks' online community. According to moderator, "I tend to think it's related to the challenge of finding nuance and tone in text. People want to emphasize a word, and for whatever reason they think putting it in quotations gets them there."
"Generally, the use of quotation marks (when they're not an actual quotation) carries a connotation of sarcasm, or of a tongue-in-cheek admission that the thing in quotes isn't actually what it's said to be. That's what has the effect of making the statement suspicious," they explained.
"My favorite examples usually come from the food service industry. There's something alarming about chicken being written dubiously as "chicken" (what is it, really?)," they said.
Thanks, I Hate The Magic Stool Bus
This Massage Parlor Is A Little Sus
When You Find Out That You're Adopted
Miami-Dade Police At Their Best
So What Kind Of Milk Are We Talking, Exactly?
Oh I gagged at this one. I'm breastfeeding, I'm producing mammal milk.
"Husband"
Appropriate Suspicious Quotes
Just Saw This In A McDonald's
Well, at least they admit that their wages are too low to count as such. Also, barring discussions of pay is illegal in many countries including the US.
Well, that's illegal. It is not punishable to talk wages in this country. It's discouraged so companies can pay people less.
Pulled this straight from a US government-run website. "Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or the Act), employees have the right to communicate with other employees at their workplace about their wages". Besides, a lot of companies have standard periodic pay increase dates. Including McDonald's.
Someone should print that off the website and stick it on this sign!
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So many businesses claim it's not, but they don't accept it's illegal.
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Threatening an employee is against the law... apparently Mc Donalds doesn't know the law.... or hamburgers need meat to actually make it a burger...
I love how businesses tell you it’s illegal, but, it’s totally not. It’s just a tactic to keep you from asking for a raise, and god forbid, unionize. /s
On the contrary, it's illegal (in the US) to try and stop you.
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They really got nerves to think they can actually demand this.... It's a free country and one can talk about anything, including wages.
I've learnt something today courtesy of en-lang.co.uk:- British practice is normally to enclose quoted matter between single quotation marks, and to use double quotation marks for a quotation within a quotation: 'Have you any idea', he said, 'what "dillygrout" is?' This is the preferred OUP practice for academic books. The order is often reversed in newspapers, and uniformly in US practice: "Have you any idea," he said, "what 'dillygrout' is?"
It's strictly forbidden at a lot of companies though. Just keep that in the back of your mind for when you're getting deecked around by your boss. Manipulating them into firing you for an illegal reason could be beneficial.
If they tried this rule in Canada, they wouldn't have anyone left to work lol
Its illegal to discuss about pay because management does not want everyone to know some staff is well paid, some are short. So they dont have to balance it or face legal action.
No - it's not illegal to discuss pay. But it is illegal (US) to try and stop employees from doing so.
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Why cuz people are getting royally f****d and are afraid of the consequences??????? Hmmmmmmm????? Freaking idiots!
I Don't Understand What They Were Trying To Accomplish With The Quotes
The Pharmacy Thinks I'm Fueling Someone's Drug Habit
I Don’t Think I Want To Know What This Means
I’ve Said It Before And I’ll Say It Again: Quotation Marks Are Not For Emphasis
No Wonder It’s So Small
Quietly Move My Cat Indoors
What Kind Of Hotel Is This?
This Is Just Suspicious All Around
I “Love” My “Husband” Dearly
I Think I’ll Pass
"Jesus"
Is “Dipping Powder” Code For Coke?
Is It Tho? As Seen Heading North On I-95 In Boca Raton, FL Yesterday
"Birds"
Oh No
Spotted At A Restaurant In Town
So The Food Isn’t Fresh Then, Got It
I Don't Think I Want To Bring My Dog Here
"Our" Community
Wow. That is actually frightening. Needless to say...don't pass through or visit and expect any "help"
Something Tells Me I'm Not Going To Get A Prize Every Time
Found This Subtle Threat In Pakistan
They are caused ... by Mickey Mouse? Dang. Good to know.
I Require The "Sauce"
"Guitar Lessons"
My Cousin Got This For His 18th Birthday
Found At My Local "Mall Sword Store"
Patient Survey
Now That's A Clever Slogan
"Duck"
Sure
How is this misusing quote marks? It’s quoting something someone said, right?
Note: this post originally had 130 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
This is just 130 examples of people (incorrectly) using quotation marks for emphasis instead of using bold, capitals, italics, etc.
...yes? The humor here is reading the examples as if the quotation marks *were* used intentionally, in which case they'd mean "I'm using this word but I don't think it applies".
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I don't know whether I should laugh or cry. Are people really this stupid?
It's puzzled me for decades. I worked with several people who would insist that using quotation marks for emphasis is correct, despite being told over and over that it is incorrect and confusing, often by their bosses. They were willing to die on that hill. I don't know where this is being taught. I've lived in the US my whole life and I'm in my 50s. I never had a teacher that instructed us to use quotation marks this way. The vast majority of people I know, whether older or younger, know this is wrong.
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This is just 130 examples of people (incorrectly) using quotation marks for emphasis instead of using bold, capitals, italics, etc.
...yes? The humor here is reading the examples as if the quotation marks *were* used intentionally, in which case they'd mean "I'm using this word but I don't think it applies".
Load More Replies... I don't know whether I should laugh or cry. Are people really this stupid?
It's puzzled me for decades. I worked with several people who would insist that using quotation marks for emphasis is correct, despite being told over and over that it is incorrect and confusing, often by their bosses. They were willing to die on that hill. I don't know where this is being taught. I've lived in the US my whole life and I'm in my 50s. I never had a teacher that instructed us to use quotation marks this way. The vast majority of people I know, whether older or younger, know this is wrong.
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