[website] Come on we are all guilty of this..... " Unnecessary quotation marks."

[mattx]

The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks

[GrumbleDook]

There are times it is ok and times when it isn't. If it is just used for "emphasis" then that is a tad poor, if it is used to highlight a commonly quoted word / concept / phrase then I don't have too much of an issue, and where it is to show that it is referring to something from another place ... well .. "Just Do It"!

[mattx]

There are times it is ok and times when it isn't. If it is just used for "emphasis" then that is a tad poor, if it is used to highlight a commonly quoted word / concept / phrase then I don't have too much of an issue, and where it is to show that it is referring to something from another place ... well .. "Just Do It"!

 

I have to say, I "agree" with you.

[tmcd35]

"not guilty"

[Hightower]

*sigh*, how I "love" edugeek

[GrumbleDook]

Now the use of the double asterisk is an interesting one as well. I quite frequently use it, as for some software I use it will automatically convert it to bold (to add emphasis) or, where all text is kept as plain text as much as possible, to add emphasis. It is a habit I picked up in some IRC channels and on usenet, and I have never gotten rid of it. It makes me wonder whether we are guilty of over formatting text when a few extra symbols can be used to give the extra meaning. After all, we use smileys.

 

Air quotes though ... that is another matter completely!

[tom_newton]

I started using *star* emphasis on fidonet, and it stuck.. anyone else an ex fido point, I wonder...

[mattx]

My terrible habit is the use of the hyphen - I use it all the time.

I can't remember where I picked it up from, most probably LAN Server / OS/2 / Mainframe related.

[Gatt]

I tend to use the **star** myself, leaving quote marks for, well quoting people

[MkII]

I use star *shrugs* and scare quotes for 'emphasis' alternating with _underline_. Hyphens - guilty too.

[GrumbleDook]

Then again ... my favourite set of punctuation marks is the ellipsis ... and I consistently use it incorrectly too ... I use it to denote a lengthened pause in the sentence but it should be a word directly followed by... as if you are leaving a sentence hanging...

 

Again, from IRC and usenet, as a means of replicating a speech pattern (the basis of most written prose when you get down to the nuts and bolts of it).

[tmcd35]

Then again ... my favourite set of punctuation marks is the ellipsis ... .

 

I've put my "dunces" hat on - ellipsis?

[36Degrees]

I've put my "dunces" hat on - ellipsis?

 

Effectively three full stops - "..." (sorry, couldn't resist)

[Gatt]

"...---..."

[tmcd35]

Effectively three full stops - "..." (sorry, couldn't resist)

 

Oh. I thought that was just called "three full stops"...

 

"...---..."

 

We *all* need a little "help" around here