The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #105494   Message #2171658
Posted By: Bee-dubya-ell
15-Oct-07 - 01:18 PM
Thread Name: BS/'quote-unquote'
Subject: RE: BS/'quote-unquote'
I don't see any need for using "quote-unquote" at all. Quotation marks are a written convention. Verbal communication has numerous other ways to convey the same idea without having to "borrow" from writing. Simple inflection usually does the job. For example, if I were to read the second sentence in this post aloud, I would stress the word "borrow" to indicate that it was being used in a not quite literal sense. I wouldn't say, "Quote, borrow, unquote." If inflection won't do the job, there are numerous adjectives and adjectival phrases that will. "So called" usually works.