Everyone knows I LOVE my morning paper. But today, as I was walking up the driveway, looking at the front page, I noticed a severe case of unnecessary quotation marks! The biggest headline above the fold read:
Obama: Stimulus key to avert 'catastrophe'
In my humble, grammar geek opinion, by starting the headline with Obama followed by a colon, they have already indicated that they are quoting or paraphrasing something Obama said. Putting "catastrophe" in quotation marks is redundant and unnecessary.
The REALLY interesting thing is that I think they caught it too...after the paper went to press. I was looking at the News & Observer on-line so that I could link to the actual article. I was nicely told by an N&O editor that I was not welcome to scan an article and post it on my blog. That's cool. I have no problem with that. When I found the article, the headline had changed to:
Obama defends stimulus plan
You be the judge...grammar gaffe or were they just trying to check to make sure I am still reading the paper every day?
Di
hmmmmm.....But are these single quotation marks ' ' actually quotation marks or indicative of something else known only to the newpaper?
Found this online: single quotation marks as marking a paraphrased quotation or a quotation where grammar, pronouns or plurality have been changed in order to fit the sentence containing the quotation (this is the same as reported speech).
Then I read that single quotation marks are used for a quotation within a quotation, which I really already know. But should the newspaper just assume that the double quotations are there (but invisible LOL)?
Posted by: joAnn | February 10, 2009 at 10:27 AM
I thought I was the only lunatic who calls TV stations to correct incorrect use of medical terms and the like. We're kindred spirits..
Posted by: Cathy Rosenberg | February 11, 2009 at 06:20 PM