From a book I just read (a book about being an ER doc):
How does one “get over” a mistake that cost another person’s life?
I don't know how ER docs deal with life and death issues, but I do know that you don't need quotation marks when you're using a colloquial expression such as "get over." They are "unnecessary."
I've always wondered why writers want to use quotation marks for words that are not quoted speech. If you tend to do this, can you explain your rationale?
"Thanks."
One of my favorite blogs is unnecessaryquotes.com. Hilarious!
ReplyDeleteI edit columns with needless quotes all of the time. Plus, my mother is the queen of inserting needless quotes, bolding, underlines, and italics into handwritten letters and emails. I think people believe that words in quotes are either quaint sayings or ones that they don't think are accepted English. They are usually wrong.
ReplyDeleteJamie, I love the same blog.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why people misuse quotation marks so often. I've always been taught quotation marks are for quotes and SELDOM to denote irony or sarcasm and even then, the latter is iffy.