Comments on: An ‘infestation’ of ‘inverted commas’ http://www.elaineswift.co.uk/an-infestation-of-inverted-commas Elaine Swift Website Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:09:51 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Elaine Swift - Blog Archive » End apostrophe abuse http://www.elaineswift.co.uk/an-infestation-of-inverted-commas/comment-page-1#comment-197 Elaine Swift - Blog Archive » End apostrophe abuse Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:12:45 +0000 http://www.elaineswift.co.uk/?p=241#comment-197 [...] wrote about contractions not long ago.  I know some people don’t like them but trust me, they do make copy easier and [...] [...] wrote about contractions not long ago.  I know some people don’t like them but trust me, they do make copy easier and [...]

]]> By: elaineswift http://www.elaineswift.co.uk/an-infestation-of-inverted-commas/comment-page-1#comment-187 elaineswift Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:06:30 +0000 http://www.elaineswift.co.uk/?p=241#comment-187 Thanks Claire. I totally agree with you about quotes making a writer sound as if they are implying the opposite of what they're saying. They actually drove me so mad in the book I was reading that I started to cross them out. Then I did the sensible thing - put the book down and made a cup of tea. Thanks Claire. I totally agree with you about quotes making a writer sound as if they are implying the opposite of what they’re saying. They actually drove me so mad in the book I was reading that I started to cross them out. Then I did the sensible thing – put the book down and made a cup of tea.

]]> By: Clare Lynch http://www.elaineswift.co.uk/an-infestation-of-inverted-commas/comment-page-1#comment-186 Clare Lynch Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:18:32 +0000 http://www.elaineswift.co.uk/?p=241#comment-186 Ah, our old friends the scare quotes, so-called because by using them you're implying that the term in the quotes is not yours and that you are scared to be associated with it. They can have the unintended effect of making a writer sound unsure of their argument - or even as if they are implying the opposite of what they want to say. In business, for example, would you want to buy shares in a company that said in its annual report: "We expect to be 'in profit' this time next year"? The scare quotes unintentionally cast doubt on the likelihood of profit. You might also enjoy reading The Blog of "Unneccessary" Quotations, which collects examples of such quotes: http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/ Ah, our old friends the scare quotes, so-called because by using them you’re implying that the term in the quotes is not yours and that you are scared to be associated with it.

They can have the unintended effect of making a writer sound unsure of their argument – or even as if they are implying the opposite of what they want to say. In business, for example, would you want to buy shares in a company that said in its annual report: “We expect to be ‘in profit’ this time next year”? The scare quotes unintentionally cast doubt on the likelihood of profit.

You might also enjoy reading The Blog of “Unneccessary” Quotations, which collects examples of such quotes: http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

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