Misused Quotation Marks

A while back I came across these examples of signage with unnecessary quotation marks, and I've since discovered there's a blog dedicated exclusively to chronicling same.

Last month I found three examples of my own on Chicago's Northwest Side.

#1:



Who cares how bad your credit it? No need to worry about getting financing here! Absolutely none!

#2:



Because everybody knows there's no such thing as a free lunch comparative market analysis.

And, speaking of lunch, this one is my favorite:



I'll eat Just About Anything, but even I am leery of what I'd be served at a place that serves not breakfast, but "breakfast," not lunch, but "lunch," and not dinner, but "dinner."

A Good Night for a Christmas Party

Our staff Christmas Party is tonight.

You might be thinking: Isn't January 5 a little late for a Christmas party?

To which I would reply:

Nonsense.

On the contrary, it's a great day to have a Christmas party, because today is the Twelfth Day of Christmas, which means tonight is Twelfth Night, and therefore worthy of a celebration.

We started the tradition of having our staff Christmas party during the first week of January a few years ago at the suggestion of one of my co-workers, who made the point that it's a bit unsuitable to have a Christmas party before, you know, Christmas. Especially when the "before" time is that of Advent, which is supposed to be a penitential season.

Having our staff Christmas party when we do is also nice for another reason. Inevitably, the month of December — especially the week before Christmas, when many office Christmas parties are held — is crazily hectic, and it's nice to not have to worry about One More Thing during that time, and instead to be able to put it off until the relatively less hectic first week of January.

So tonight, we celebrate.

Aren't Options 2 and 3 the Same Thing?