Timeline for Did quotation marks historically have other applications or uses, like for emphasis?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
19 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Dec 11, 2022 at 19:47 | history | edited | library socialist | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
made the question in the title more specific and clear
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| Sep 9, 2021 at 3:02 | vote | accept | library socialist | ||
| Sep 8, 2021 at 20:37 | answer | added | Greybeard | timeline score: 0 | |
| Sep 8, 2021 at 15:23 | answer | added | TaliesinMerlin | timeline score: 3 | |
| Sep 8, 2021 at 14:07 | comment | added | Stuart F | See also "Unexpected" quotation marks: Why? although I'm unsure if this is a duplicate (this question asks about history, but see comments here for why this isn't a historical usage). | |
| Sep 8, 2021 at 11:11 | answer | added | Brad | timeline score: -2 | |
| Jul 16, 2021 at 23:35 | comment | added | GArthurBrown | I think we all agree that the usage of the quotation marks in the Q is not an older usage harking back to the olden days of punctuation. | |
| Jul 16, 2021 at 21:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackEnglish/status/1416140604862615556 | ||
| Jul 16, 2021 at 19:34 | comment | added | jsw29 | Prescriptivists have no problem in answering this question summarily, but it poses a challenge for descriptivists. It is a test of how far one is willing to go in being a descriptivist. | |
| Jul 16, 2021 at 19:04 | comment | added | user379412 | @librarysocialist ALT text fixed. Good to see that someone knows their importance. | |
| S Jul 16, 2021 at 19:03 | history | edited | KillingTime | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
ALT descriptions SRC to prevent link rot/ title grammar
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| S Jul 16, 2021 at 19:03 | history | suggested | user379412 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
ALT descriptions SRC to prevent link rot/ title grammar
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| Jul 16, 2021 at 19:02 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Jul 16, 2021 at 19:03 | |||||
| Jul 10, 2021 at 2:21 | comment | added | rchivers | @BenjaminHarman Where on earth are you getting that from? I think the wiki article is about right on scare quotes. The ones in the do not eat example are not scare quotes as I understand the term. The ones in the second would be if the intention was to avoid liability but I think that is extremely dubious. | |
| Jul 10, 2021 at 2:18 | history | edited | library socialist | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 405 characters in body
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| Jul 10, 2021 at 2:06 | comment | added | library socialist | @BenjaminHarman I'm aware of scare quotes—I'm asking about instances where it's clear that the quotation marks weren't meant to be scare quotes, but they end up being read that way. Why would the makers of the water refill stations want to cast doubt on whether their water is actually natural and pure? Clearly that's not their intention, but because that's how quotation marks are often used, that's how the sign ends up being read. | |
| Jul 10, 2021 at 2:05 | comment | added | rchivers | @BenjaminHarman The examples in the photos aren't scare quotes though... doesn't the humour come from the fact that they can be interpreted as if they were? In the first pic I'd say the idea is that to show that the words in quotes make up a proper noun / name, and in the second it's to give the impression that the words are being spoken, to make the message seem more direct / important. The first one is obviously a marketing gaffe but I don't think any punctuation crime has been committed. | |
| Jul 10, 2021 at 1:53 | comment | added | John Lawler | Punctuation has changed much more rapidly than spelling or grammar in English. Every punctuation mark has had many uses over the centuries. Shakespeare's punctuation is unlike any modern English text. And in the 17th through 20th century it changed again and again. Partly it's because publishing changed, and publishing is where punctuation comes from; it doesn't have to do with English at all -- it's all printing, not talking. And nobody makes the rules; we all just do the best we can. | |
| Jul 10, 2021 at 1:46 | history | asked | library socialist | CC BY-SA 4.0 |