There’s a sign in the bathroom at school that shows a woman holding her hands up, with the areas where bacteria and poop accumulate highlighted on them. Below this, it reads:
Infection prevention is “IN YOUR HANDS.”
I find it hilarious, because like, imagine someone saying this in real life. “Hey, wanna practice safe hand-washing techniques? Well, infection prevention is… look, air quotes… I’m about to make a joke… infection prevention is … IN YOUR HANDS!!!!!! [*holds up hands*] Hahahahahahaha get it? Like, in your hands, your responsibility, but also literally in your hands because it is your hands you are washing. Isn’t that clever?”
It combines the bad idea of using caps-lock for emphasis with the outright mistake of misusing quotation marks for emphasis, all in service of removing all the subtlety from a bad pun. This in a place of higher education.
It reminds me of of this:
It’s a bit more subtle in its punnage, but that tends to make people respond “well actually, blood is in me to keep my internal organs functioning.” So maybe you can’t win either way.
Then again, I’m the only one who thinks about grammar and punctuation this much, so to most people it’s probably all the same.
Edit Aug 14: I’ve been informed that it’s actually: Infection prevention is in “YOUR HANDS”. Same point though.
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