"Major" Problem

Ok, I'm noticing a major problem that's growing exponentially in this country: misuse of quotation marks.

I'm not talking about literally quoting something here. That's pretty cut and dry and most people can still get that right. However, often accompanied by finger quotes in verbal communication, quotation marks are typically around a word to mean either "something like this word" or sarcasm. People fail to understand that quotes are NOT to be used for emphasis.

For example, a bakery near me sells "hot" chocolate, and a deli has "fresh" vegetables. This is in contrast to the way I use them (the correct way). To make my point: my friend Nancy is a person. Paris Hilton is a "person" (because she's really just an amalgam of venerial disease colonies clustering together and happens to resemble a human being).

Is that so difficult to understand?