quote unquote

quote unquote

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kwəʊt ʌnkwəʊt/
• IPA^(key): /kwəʊt ɒnkwəʊt/ (common but proscribed, corresponding to the misspelling pronounciation)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adjective

quote unquote

1. (idiomatic) Emphasizes the following, or sometimes preceding, word or phrase for irony or marks it as not the normal sense of the term. Used almost exclusively in spoken language. In written language, quotation marks would be used instead.

   Synonyms: so-called, supposed

   • 1997 August 18, New York, page 38:

     `We're a young quote-unquote club. [...] In time, it will become a club.'

   • 2022 April 13, Ryan Bort, “The Real Reason Republicans Are Loading Their 2022 Campaign Ads With Guns”, in Rolling Stone‎:

     “Brandishing weapons and leaning into gun culture is viewed as revolutionary, and by revolutionary I mean, in their minds, the most virtuous sense, as defenders of quote unquote America,” he says.

   Maybe you should ask your quote unquote friend what happened to the money.

Translations

Emphasize the following word or phrase for irony

Azerbaijani: dırnaqarası Catalan: entre cometas Danish: i gåseøjne Finnish: lainausmerkeissä French: entre guillemets (fr), soi-disant (fr) Hungarian: úgynevezett (hu), idézőjeles, idézőjelben Italian: tra virgolette Portuguese: entre aspas Russian: в кавычках (ru) (v kavyčkax) Spanish: entre comillas Vietnamese: nháy nháy (vi)

Adverb

quote ... unquote

1. Used in spoken language to delimit a quotation in the same function as quotation marks.

   Adam Smith claimed that a capitalist is, quote, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention, unquote.

   Synonyms: quote, quote end quote

See also

• air quotes
• scare quote