Scare quotes

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This article is about the typographic practice. For the use of quotations and headlines to scare readers, see Scare-line.
File:Scare quotes example.png
Intentional usage of scare quotes by Sanford Levinson in a testimony before the United States Senate, 2004

Scare quotes (also called shudder quotes[1][2] or sneer quotes[3][4][5]) are quotation marks that writers place around a word or phrase to signal that they are using it in an ironic, referential, or otherwise non-standard sense.[6] Scare quotes may indicate that the author is using someone else's term, similar to preceding a phrase with the expression "so-called";[7] they may imply skepticism or disagreement, belief that the words are misused, or that the writer intends a meaning opposite to the words enclosed in quotes.[8] Whether quotation marks are considered scare quotes depends on context because scare quotes are not visually different from actual quotations. The use of scare quotes is sometimes discouraged in formal or academic writing.[9][10]

History

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Elizabeth Anscombe coined the term scare quotes as it refers to punctuation marks in 1956 in an essay titled "Aristotle and the Sea Battle", published in Mind.[11] The use of a graphic symbol on an expression to indicate irony or dubiousness goes back much further: Authors of ancient Greece used a mark called a diple periestigmene for that purpose.[12] Beginning in the 1990s, the use of scare quotes became widespread.[13][14][15] Postmodernist authors in particular have theorized about bracketing punctuation, including scare quotes, and have found reasons for their frequent use in their writings.[2][16] In 2014, Slate declared hashtags to be "the new scare quotes" in the sense that both are used for "announcing distance". Just like scare quotes, hashtags such as #firstworldproblems or #YOLO may signal that the phrase is not one's own.[17]

Usage

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Writers use scare quotes for a variety of reasons. They can imply doubt or ambiguity in words or ideas within the marks,[18] or even outright contempt.[19] They can indicate that a writer is purposely misusing a word or phrase[20] or that the writer is unpersuaded by the text in quotes,[21] and they can help the writer deny responsibility for the quote.[19] Megan Garber in The Atlantic writes: "to put terms like 'identity politics' or 'rape culture' or, yes, 'alt-right' in scare quotes is ... to make, in that placement, a political declaration."[22] In general, the punctuation expresses distance between the writer and the quote.[23][7]

For example:

Some "groupies" were following the band.

The scare quotes could indicate that the word is not one the writer would normally use, or that the writer thinks there is something dubious about the word groupies or its application to these people.[24] The exact meaning of the scare quotes is not clear without further context.

The term scare quotes may be confusing because of the word scare. An author may use scare quotes not to convey alarm, but to signal a semantic quibble. Scare quotes may suggest or create a problematization with the words set in quotes.[25][26]

Criticism

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Some experts encourage writers to avoid scare quotes because they can distance the writer and confuse the reader.[27]

Editor Greil Marcus, in a talk at Case Western Reserve University, described scare quotes as "the enemy", adding that they "kill narrative, they kill story-telling... They are a writer's assault on his or her own words."[28] Scare quotes have been described as ubiquitous, and the use of them as expressing distrust in truth, reality, facts, reason, and objectivity.[14]

Political commentator Jonathan Chait wrote in The New Republic,

The scare quote is the perfect device for making an insinuation without proving it, or even necessarily making clear what you're insinuating.[29]

In 1982, philosopher David Stove examined the trend of using scare quotes in philosophy as a means of neutralizing or suspending words that imply cognitive achievement, such as knowledge or discovery.[30]

Scare quotes can be replaced by writing text to make the insinuation explicit.

In speech

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In spoken conversation, a stand-in for scare quotes is a hand gesture known as air quotes or finger quotes, which mimics quotation marks. A speaker may alternatively say "quote" before and "unquote" after quoted words, or say "quote unquote" before or after the quoted words,[31] or pause before and emphasize the parts in quotes. These spoken methods are also used for literal and conventional quotes.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Boolos, George. Logic, Logic, and Logic. Harvard University Press (1999) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). p. 400.
  2. ^ a b Pinker, Steven. The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century. Penguin (2014) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ Miles, Murray, Inroads: Paths in Ancient and Modern Western Philosophy. University of Toronto Press (2003). Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. p. 134.
  4. ^ Herbert, Trevor. Music in Words : A Guide to Researching and Writing about Music. Oxford University Press (2009). Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. p. 126.
  5. ^ Horn, Barbara. Copy-editing. The Publishing Training Center. (2008). p. 68.
  6. ^ University of Chicago Press staff. Chicago Manual of Style. University of Chicago Press (2010). p. 365.
  7. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  8. ^ Siegal, Allan M. The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage. Three Rivers Press (1999). Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. p. 280.
  9. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  10. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  11. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  12. ^ Finnegan, Ruth. Why Do We Quote?: The Culture and History of Quotation. Open Book Publishers (2011). Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. p. 86.
  13. ^ Howells, Richard, editor. Outrage: Art, Controversy, and Society. Palgrave Macmillan. (2012) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., p. 89.
  14. ^ a b Haack, Susan, editor. Manifesto of a Passionate Moderate: Unfashionable Essays. University of Chicago Press (2000) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., p. 202.
  15. ^ Perlman, Merrill. "'Scare' Tactics". Columbia Journalism Review. 28 January 2013.
  16. ^
    • Nash, Christopher. The Unravelling of the Postmodern Mind. Edinburgh University Press. (2001) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., p. 92.
    • Saguaro, Shelley. Garden Plots: The Politics and Poetics of Gardens. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. (2006) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., p. 62.
    • Olson, Gary A. Worsham, Lynn. Postmodern Sophistry: Stanley Fish and the Critical Enterprise. SUNY Press (2004) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., p. 18.
    • Protevi, John. Time and Exteriority: Aristotle, Heidegger, Derrida. Bucknell University Press (1994), p. 120. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
    • Elmer, Johathan. Reading at the Social Limit: Affect, Mass Culture, and Edgar Allan Poe. Stanford University Press (1995) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. p. 34.
  17. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  18. ^ Stove, David C. Against the Idols of the Age. Transaction Publishers (1999) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). pp. xxv–xxvi.
  19. ^ a b Trask, Robert Lawrence. Say what You Mean!: A Troubleshooter's Guide to English Style and Usage. David R. Godine Publisher (2005) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). p. 228.
  20. ^ Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. The Modern Language Association of America (1995) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). p. 56.
  21. ^ Fogarty, Mignon. The Grammar Devotional: Daily Tips for Successful Writing from Grammar Girl. Macmillan (2009) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). p. 207.
  22. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  23. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  24. ^ McArthur, Thomas Burns. McArthur, Roshan. Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press (2005) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  25. ^ Davidson, Arnold. I. The Emergence of Sexuality: Historical Epistemology and the Formation of Concepts. Harvard University Press (2004) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). pp. 87–88.
  26. ^ Sharma, Nandita Rani. Home Economics: Nationalism and the Making of 'Migrant Workers' in Canada. University of Toronto Press (2006) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). p. 169.
  27. ^ Kemp, Gary. What is this thing called Philosophy of Language? Routledge (2013) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). p. xxii.
  28. ^ Marcus, Greil (10 May 2010). "Greil Marcus - Notes on the Making of A New Literary History of America". Adapted from a talk given at Case Western Reserve University on 10 April 2010.
  29. ^ Jonathan Chait, "Scared Yet?, The New Republic, 31 December 2008.
  30. ^ Stove, David (1982). "Part 1, Chapter 1". Popper and After: Four Modern Irrationalists. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Reprinted as Anything Goes: Origins of the Cult of Scientific Irrationalism (1998). Macleay Press. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
  31. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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