Can you help me find examples of scare quotes being misused?

Nothing specific comes to mind, but I’m sure you can find plenty of scare quotes here.

I would say: look at the right top page of this page, where it says ’ “Great Question (1)” ’

;-)

BTW – That (1) had to be there to make sure that it was indeed improper use.

meow whitenoise jealous much?

Nope…. I actually think it is a great question, that’s why I think the scare quotes are misused.
(And I placed the GQ in there.)

That is with _this question. ;-)_

I’ve also heard them called horror quotes.

Instances abound, but finding or thinking of examples for things always stumps me. I’ll think about it and see what comes up.

Interesting question. I often use quotation marks merely to emphasize ‘certain’ words or to draw attention to certain words being used by others. If the emphasized words perform as the writer intended, then how can it’s use be incorrect? I mean, it’s not like someone putting a question mark in the middle of a sentence or accidentally adding an unintentional exclamation point in the middle of a word. In that sense, who gets to choose whether they are being misused or not? You’ve got me curious now.

@Rufus_T_Firefly

It’s like people using “It’s” as a possessive adjective.

One may get one’s point across; it’s however incorrect, nevertheless.

@Rufus_T_Firefly, the meaning of quotation marks is not emphasis. That use is exactly what produces the type of incorrect application that the OP is asking about. The purpose of punctuation is to support meaning. If it conveys the wrong meaning to the reader, how can that be as the writer intended?

I found this blog today: http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

It has plenty of examples.

@Jeruba – I’ll agree to disagree. Quotation marks are often used to place additional emphasis and meaning into messages, words and thoughts. At least that’s what they taught me in college. Only the writer can determine if the true meaning has been conveyed and I’ve never had a problem conveying my intended meaning. Although, a big yellow highlighter would be much preferable to quotation marks, it’s not always possible online.

@Rufus_T_Firefly

Wikipedia disagrees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotation_mark#Emphasis_.28incorrect_usage.29
(for whatever that’s worth)

I personally prefer putting asterisks on either side of something I want to emphasize when bold and italics aren’t options.

@phaedryx – Well then. good for Wikipedia, but Wikipedia isn’t the sole source of knowledge on the planet. The veracity of it’s content is frequently challenged and it HAS been proven inaccurate more than once. As to a preferred method of adding emphasis, to each his own, I suppose.

@phaedryx, I’ve noticed that when reason fails, an appeal to an unnamed authority is often a last recourse, or the last preceding an assertion that anyone’s judgment is as good as anyone else’s. It’s no use arguing with anyone whose recollection of what “they” taught him is flawless and whose teachers were infallible.

Which particular grammar police do you rely on, Jeruba?

I asked this question because quotation marks are sometimes used incorrectly for emphasis, and I wanted some examples of quotation mark misuse undermining the intent of the writer. I have yet to find a source that endorses quotation marks for emphasis, but it is easy to find sources that say that using quotation marks for emphasis is incorrect.

http://www.google.com/search?q=quotation+marks+for+emphasis