They are just doing the autocomplete verbally, like when you type an opening quote and the end quote goes in automatically but the next thing you type goes inside the quotes
If you are quoting a word or short phrase you use this form to make it quicker and easier for the listener to understand.
If you quote a long section, saying “quote, <long quote>, unquote.” is common and accepted.
You’ll hear it sometimes in French.
It’s “quote unquote something” because most people who "quote something often forget to unquote afterwards.
I see what you did there… 🤣
this is one of those things that I have wondered about for so long that I forgot to wonder about it
It’s the verbal equivalent of quotation marks done as a hand gesture.
Yeah—I think the canonical usage is to hold up your fingers as you say “quote unquote”, then lower your hands when the quote is complete.
Unrelated but until a month ago I’ve been saying “quote ON quote” until I saw it actually written 😂🤣
When I was younger I said quote END quote.
As a homeschooled kid, I usually had the opposite problem. Mispronounced so much shit.
Professors and engineers, in my experience, tend to say “quote… the thing… end quote”. Regular people on the other hand, are lazy, inconsistent and generally oblivious to whether or not they’re being ambiguous.
Regular people on the other hand, are lazy, inconsistent and generally oblivious to whether or not they’re being ambiguous.
me_irl
o7
I’ve heard it said both ways.
For example.
When the statement you’re quoting is going to be quote, short or simple, unquote.
Or, if it’s going to stand on its own and be quote, unquote, some long citation that would make famous Russian authors jealous.
Usually I hear this as “quote something end quote”
I think I’ve most often heard quote unquote used sarcastically, like scare quotes in writing. When someone’s quoting something seriously I usually hear the quote something unquote or a and I quote something.
Indeed. With very slowly pronounced “bunny ear finger quotes” as you say it to emphasize the sarcasm.
I think because one gets the point across easily while the other is pedantic
Tangential, but I don’t understand why in American English you feel the need to say the word quote at all. In UK English we just use intenation.
Can I quote you on that?
It’s useful for when you’re quoting someone who happens to use the exact same intonation as you!
Because it would be pretty silly to verbally say “quote” “the thing” and them finish of with “unquote” at the end, like some kind of robot.
The whole point of saying it is to clarify that you’re quoting something.
