"Unnecessary" Quotation Marks
::: spoiler Image Transcript A 3x3 grid of images of signs.
Row 1: "Bees" Active In This "Area", Employee Must "Wash Hands", Entrance "E.R."
Row 2: "NEW" underwear 50p each, The "CLUNK" in the elevator... will not... .....harm you!!!, Beware of "Dog"
Row 3: "LIVE" Lobsters, "Women", "Restrooms" located on other side of building
v1als: unnecessary quotation mark appreciation board
prettypinkdork: There are few things as profoundly funny as unnecessary/ominous quotations. :::
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Comments47
I'm okay with the "clunk" quotes, as they are most likely actually quoting others.
They more than made up for it with the... ominous... ellipses....
And the two exclamation marks after HARM YOU.
The clunk is quoting the sound, so it's ok technically.
Not enough for me to trust the sign, though
I think it's a toss up between "dog" and "new" as to which is the most disturbing.
"Dog" = canine shaped kill bot; Beware of canine shaped kill bot
"New" = Open pack worn once and never washed; Open pack worn once and never washed underwear 50p each
"Live" = Undead (they are still moving, so that counts right); Undead lobsters
New=Old, but new to the purchaser.
The city defines a dog as any living entity with four legs and a tail. So raccoons, bears, mountain lions, mice, these are all just different sizes of dog.
Not "new" underwear?
Quote marks used to be used for "emphasis", and some older people still use them that way. I had an aunt who would use quotes like this on signs at her fruit stand.
if someone tried selling me a "fruit salad" i'd be scared
Why would one need to emphasize "fruit salad"? fruit salad is insane.
look at this guy not wanting their "salad tossed", well more for me!
Is that true? Or just "true"? I couldn't find a credible source for that with a very short search.
I know people who use "air quotes" to put "emphasis" on words if they are "trying" to make a "point"
But I don't know if that comes from people using quotes originally to do the same thing.
It's true in a sense that you can find examples of big companies and chains using them in such a way, even in national advertising and on products.
It was never part of any written standards to be used that way. But this situation counts more as communicating than language, and communication is whatever the people want it to be.
I think it comes down to people in any of the situations to make these decisions were never academics.
I’ve heard this before but I’m not entirely sure. Is it possible some old people just didn’t learn to write properly? Like when they used to write emails in all caps?
One of the first results I found was this Jeep advertising sign from the 60s
Neon sign, budget ver.
What the hell is om rodos
That's actually exactly how I write my "n", so now I feel personally attacked.
🫦
Do it harder
run timmy
Haven't yet decided if actual cop would be worse. Either way, Timmy better be fast.
Pretty sure bottom right is just saying they don't mind if you go piss in the alley around back
Tina the Troubled Teen.
"new" underwear is outright disturbing and creepy.
"Nice"
Everyone knows "bees" are just batteries for "birds". And the "area" is a recharging station.
When Morpheus is the one who taught you about the birds and the bees.
Here is my "comment"
"Women", wrote the trans-sceptic.
"women", "men", wrote the gender abolishionist
"Women", wrote the woman denier.
Disclaimer: Some lobsters were prerecorded for your time zone.
Honestly "Restroom" makes sense with quotation marks because it seems like a misleading polite euphemism to begin with. You aren't going to the excretion room to rest.
just because you don't spend an hour on the toilet scrolling through memes doesn't mean no one does
But it's where you do the rest, AKA the things you shouldn't do in the other rooms
Existential dread?
or if you are you should reconsider with whom/where you go out
What "the" heck
I want to know what these people think quotation marks mean. They don't even make sense if misused for emphasis in most of these.
What if they had a goose naned "dog" and just wanted to remember you to be a were of "dog"
Or maybe they have a longhaired bounty hunter in their yard
This thrift store I used to frequent in college had a sign on the vending machine that said
USE AT YOUR OWN "RISK"
Cracked me up every time