Booher's Rules of Business Grammar - Dianna Booher 2009

Ripley’s believe it or not
Punctuation problems

QUOTATION MARKS TO CHANGE THE TONE OR THE MEANING

Quotation marks can imply sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek comments, so make sure that’s what you intend when you use them. For example: “Spike flew to Los Angeles last week with his blonde ’associate’ to tie up loose ends on a business deal before attending a trade show in the area.” The use of quotation marks here tells me that the writer has his doubts that Spike and his associate will have their minds totally attuned to business deals.

A careless or loose use of quotation marks can reverse the meaning of a word or phrase.

The same holds true when tossing a lighthearted word or phrase into a formal document or vice versa:

Except to the extent that you state otherwise, this document gives the person you name as your agent the authority to make any and all health-care decisions for you in accordance with your wishes, including your religious and moral beliefs, when you are no longer capable of making them yourself. If you do not have a physician, you should talk with someone who is knowledgeable about these issues before signing—not necessarily “your Uncle Fred,” but someone who can provide legal assistance on these matters.

So to sum up: Use quotation marks to enclose misnomers, coined words, slang terms, or tongue-in-cheek comments that don’t match the tone or style of the rest of the document.

Memory tip

Consider some quotation marks as winks. They change the meaning or tone of the actual words.