" ≠ italics

These are quotation marks: “” They’re your friends when you’re recounting a tale of adventure, such as so:

So I says to Mabel, I says, “I was wearing an onion on my belt, which was the fashion at the time.”

Intrigue! Suspense! Direct quotation of something someone said! Quotes are your guys.

Here’s when you don’t use quotation marks: in place of italics. I know you really want to emphasize a certain word, which is usually the point of italics:

I really hate it when people use quotes instead of italics.

However, consider the following sentence:

I “really” hate it when people use quotes instead of italics.

The quotation marks indicate that the speaker doesn’t really mean that or they’re quoting someone else who they think is a moron. In this case, it makes it sound like I don’t really care about the use of quotation marks in place of italics, which we all know is untrue.

So what do you do instead? I don’t know. Something else. Some people use asterisks, some people put the word in all caps, and some people just alter their tone to produce a more even effect throughout the sentence. Take your pick, or come up with something on your own that isn’t stupid. Using quotation marks in place of italics is decidedly stupid.