quote unquote
6
7.7
- idiom
- Informal
:
cita, cita
- The book, quote unquote, says that friendship is the most important thing.
- know, quote unquote
So, I mean, that's, that's the downside of the like disruption of these quote unquote norms.
- So, I mean, that's, that's the downside of the like disruption of these quote unquote norms.
- And then what happens when we play this quote unquote game and we think, oh, don't show emotion and be strong.
Examples
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She described the event as being quote unquote, a failure, despite its successes.
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And then what happens when we play this quote unquote game and we think, oh, don't show emotion and be strong.
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They're gonna drive out the black element, to make the galaxy quote, unquote, safe for white folks.
Fiction book (1997) -
So, I mean, that's, that's the downside of the like disruption of these quote unquote norms.
-
Some people, quote unquote, believe that money can buy happiness.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The basic function of marking a quoted segment is directly signalled by the constituents 'quote' (open quote) and 'unquote' (close quote), so a learner who knows those words can infer it places a phrase in quotation marks. However, its frequent pragmatic use to signal irony or skepticism and its formulaic spoken use are extensions not fully predictable from the parts, making it only partially transparent.
Etymology
Quote unquote comes from people saying the quotation marks out loud: they would say quote before a phrase and unquote after it, like making 'air quotes' with their fingers. So today, when someone says quote unquote, they mean the words are a 'quotation' or should be taken with 'irony' or 'doubt'.