I recently saw a local motel sign which included the following, as written:
Rooms Available
“Free Wi-Fi”
I simply don’t understand the use of quotes here. Are they quoting someone?
“Free Wi-Fi,” says Bill Sweeney of Akron, Ohio.
I guess it’s better than:
“Free” Wi-Fi
which suggests that you will be paying for it in some way. I’m thinking if you opt to use the Wi-Fi, you wake up in a tub full of ice with a fresh scar where your kidney used to be. “Enter as strangers. Leave missing an organ.”
Or:
Free “Wi-Fi”
suggesting that you’re getting SOMETHING for free, but you might not want to count on actual “Wi-Fi”. “Enjoy a complementary Bluetooth connection to the phone of our night custodian, Slippery Pete. And good luck sleeping after browsing Pete’s phone.”
Ah, the English language.
if we imbue them with cleverness, they wanted to say ((( free wi-fi ))) but only had double quotes. that might be too kind– “but you never know…”
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