Have a "good time"

Part 2 in my series of PICTURES OF RUINED ENGLISH comes from Philladelphia! City of the Liberty Bell, the Cheese Steak, and apparently, "Good Times".



Once again, superfluous quotation marks add an air of suspicion to an otherwise respectable sign. This restaurant put quotes around "BEST" and "GOOD TIMES", presumably in a misguided attempt at adding emphasis. It's possible that they're actually quoting someone, but grammatical ignorance is more likely.


Either way, the quotes suggest that the reader should be skeptical. So, you've got the "BEST" MARGARITAS? According to whom? "GOOD TIMES" SINCE 1978? That just looks sarcastic! It's as if the manager wants you to think that this is the "BEST" place for "GOOD TIMES", but the guy making the sign knows that they've got roaches in the kitchen and 2 pending lawsuits for food poisoning. Underlining would have added the emphasis they wanted without making it look like they're giving you the old nudge-nudge wink-wink as they say it.


Thanks to KW for contributing the photos.