Oh, and never, never, never use quotes for emphasis. It makes the person who created the sign look like a fool.

When you put quotes around a phrase, generally it means that the phrase within has a meaning other than the author's intention. Sarcasm usually involves quotes. Example:

Get that "antique" out of my driveway.

The person saying this sentence really doesn't believe the car is a valuable antique, but instead a piece of junk.

So when you see a sign that says:

"Free" ice cream today, the reader probably won't assume the ice cream is free, even though the sign creator used the quotes to emphasize FREE.

Use quotes to quote people!



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