BBC ‘loves’ its single quotes
I can exclusively reveal that the BBC website editors have a serious addiction problem. This news may come as a shock to some, but I know a few who’ve noticed the dramatic increase over the years. It’s a serious case of infatuation with the single quotation mark (or his twin brother, the apostrophe, whichever way you like it).
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
Be careful, this obsession ‘is infectious’.
Katy said:
On 26 Nov at 10:17 pm
it’s because these things are only “pretend” news. Or something.
Amber said:
On 26 Nov at 10:18 pm
I think it’s a way to shift the blame away from themselves. It’s better “than this” though right? :P
Grant said:
On 26 Nov at 10:21 pm
lol the bbc! The only channel i watch is bbc3 and even then i never watch that anymore. i hardly watch tv unless ma folks are.
Carly said:
On 26 Nov at 10:32 pm
I think that is a ‘bit silly.’
Caroline said:
On 26 Nov at 10:39 pm
Blame the AP Stylebook I guess, although I don’t see how any of those would be editorializing without the quotes.
Yara said:
On 27 Nov at 12:28 am
I think I’ve caught the single quotation mark bug :( I don’t sneak it in my writing as much as BBC does, but I’m finding more and more each day! But that definently made me laugh.
Maren said:
On 27 Nov at 12:43 am
Haha. Damnit, now I’m going to notice that all the time.
Kaylee said:
On 27 Nov at 12:52 am
‘Single quotes’ annoy me. “Double quotes” are much better… Even so, BBC is a little too “excited” about quoting things!
Carmen said:
On 27 Nov at 3:10 am
It ‘surely’ is- addictive, that is. I always thought the double apostrophe/normal quotation marks were ‘correct’, but I’m starting to realise that this may be a U.K (or Northern Hemisphere, actually) thing.
Annie said:
On 27 Nov at 6:40 am
Haha, funny post.
Brigitte said:
On 27 Nov at 2:58 pm
Do any of those thing even need to be in quotes?
Mae said:
On 27 Nov at 4:59 pm
BBC and their trouble with coming up with better Headlines and such.. They’re probably running out of ideas..
Mike said:
On 27 Nov at 5:58 pm
When someone has a go at a person, company, or whatever, I’ll usually try and defend them, if for no other reason than they need an advocate when everyone else is attacking them. It happens a lot with Zilla on Cock, although in her case I never bother posting anything because it’s a waste of time to argue a different position. In this case though, you’re right. I love the BBC, but god damn, there’s no need for any of those quotation marks. People should assume that when they read headlines such as those, they’re already paraphrasing something that the story will yield more details (and quotes) about. In the BBC’s defence (oops, looks as though I’m defending them), litigation and lawsuit culture has got to a point where you really do have to be careful with sources. People can sue you because you didn’t attribute a quote to them, or because you did. It’s not easy to protect yourself and in ensuring that even their headlines acknowledge outside sources, the BBC is taking a very simple step in trying to do so. But maybe, just maybe, they should grow some fucking balls.
Carly said:
On 27 Nov at 8:13 pm
Imagine reading every single headline in a paper, or online with ‘these’ around them. — Man wins ‘pie eating’ contest –Celeb kicked out ‘jungle’ –etc etc soon get annoying – ‘wouldn’t it’?
Ning said:
On 28 Nov at 3:56 pm
I can’t really see the intention behind those quotation marks. As all addictions usually are, they’ve become redundant.
Amber said:
On 02 Dec at 6:08 am
The quotes are just to indicate that it’s a direct quote.
Cal said:
On 03 Dec at 9:03 am
That is just ‘so funny’ it’s not.