On some of my excursions around New York City, I find signs that are stunningly obvious, the equivalent of a message I once saw on a book of matches: “Warning — may cause fire.” Here’s one such sign:
Does the owner think anyone’s going to pay $26.00 for amateur haircuts & shaves? Professional would seem to be self-evident, given that someone is paying rent, utilities, and so forth to hang out inside and tend to customers’ tresses in exchange for money.
Also obvious is this sign I saw in Midtown:
If you were searching for a satellite, where else would you look? Under the sidewalk grate? Not obvious is what’s holding the satellite. A giant leash? A Star Trek magnetic field? Also, why are they holding it? Send the satellite into orbit, already! Despite the pandemic, rents in New York City are high, and Space is free.
Also unclear is the meaning of this message, which I glimpsed on the side of a van belonging to a cleaning service:
I have always assumed that every doorman in my building showers, with perhaps an occasional bath as a change of pace. That a doorman might opt for dry cleaning never even entered my mind. Now that the thought is there, though, I wonder whether the dry cleaning ticket is pinned or taped on, and to which body part. Actually, on further reflection, I’d rather not know.
One more puzzler, to balance out the pair of obvious signs earlier in this post:
The bar looks old, so I’m not questioning the age of the place but rather the quotation marks around 100, which are most commonly used to indicate a direct quotation. That doesn’t seem likely here. Nor is it likely that the marks signal doubt about the accuracy of the information enclosed by quotation marks, as in We listened to Henry’s “singing” until our eardrums ruptured. The dates show 100 years (2021 – 1921 = 100). So why quotation marks?
Obviously, I invite you to send me your theories.
Maybe the doorman dry cleaning is due for his “100” year (hyphen apparently optional, as is “th” after 100) anniversary extravaganza, and so must look extra spiffy. One can only shrug.
Love your lazy-language finds!
And I love your interpretations of my finds!
As far as I know, quotation marks are used when repeating exactly what someone said or might say. But I very often have seen them, here in my home country, Brazil, in completely different situations. To mention a couple, in one there they are placed around a sentence, on a supplement can, which says that the product should not be used for nourishing a child under 1 year old. Why the quotes here? It’s just a piece of information on a can label.
In another, on a sign up on the wall, the inverted commas come up around the names of the specialities a clinic offers. Why place Neurology, Oncology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Urology in quotes?
My theory is that they’re using quotation marks as adornment or frill, trying to make writing more attractive.
I think you are correct. Here in the US, too, I see more and more quotation marks added for emphasis. Perhaps the language will evolve to accept that usage as correct. I do worry, however, that the quotation marks imply another person’s participation (an expert, perhaps), and thus give more authority to the statement than it deserves.