The "Blog" and the Book of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

“Hot” French Bread

Georgia-based Bethany Keeley-Jonker has been running the popular site, the “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks, since 2005 and it’s still going strong today. It features images of signs, products, and other items where quotation marks are used unnecessarily and thus, have an unintended comic effect. Readers of the blog are encouraged to submit their own findings. In 2010, she authored a book on the same subject, The Book of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks: A Celebration of Creative Punctuation.

From the sarcastic to the suggestive, here are quotation marks as we love them best, doing horrible damage to the English language. Who wouldn’t have second thoughts about ordering the “hamburger” on the diner’s menu? Would it be best to skip the “blowout” sale at the department store? What hidden price must be paid for something marked “free”? Assembled by the creator of the wildly popular “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks, this book surveys the havoc wreaked by quotation marks on signs, menus, placards, and posters that leave reality upended by supposed “facts.” This smarty-pants guide is “perfect” for desperate grammarians, habitual air quoters, and anyone who appreciates a good laugh.