xkcd #3143: Question Mark
Title text:
Although now people will realize three-per-em space that all this time I've been using weird medium mathematical space whitespace characters in my hair space hair space hair space speech dot dot dot...
Transcript:
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Source: https://xkcd.com/3143/
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Tbh, I hate in much more when people say "quote unquote" before starting their quote.
It's like writing ""Here is the quoted text.
Unquote ends the quote. So "quote unquote" means ""Here's an empty quote, now let me ramble on about something that is not a quote.
you're thinking too much like a computer.
in human speech, when "quote unquote" is used, it's typically obvious when the quote ends from the tone and pace of what is said.
the function of "quote unquote" is to reduce the awkwardness and increase the impact of reciting a quote by obviating the need to state the word "unquote" at the end of a quote.
compare:
He ended every speech with quote and carthege must be destroyed unquote
with
He ended each speech with quote unquote carthege must be destroyed
Try saying both out loud. I think you'll agree that the second form sounds less awkward and more impactful
That's why in most other languages (and that works in english too), if you don't want to specifically mark the end of your quote, you just say something like "And then he said, I quote, your mom is so fat that she has her own gravitational well."
No need or point to put an unnecesary "end quote" marker before the beginning of your quote.
it's just a part of the statement which rolls easily off your tongue, that's all there is to it
That's the point though, quote to tell people it's a quote and unquote to signal that you are using it out of context or sarcastically, thus not quoting the original sentiment. It's correct.
I think they're more annoyed that some people say both right before they start the quote
People sometimes introduce a quote by doing that air quote gesture - I suppose with this logic they should only do it on one hand at the quote start and use the other hand to end the quote.
The air quote is usually signed til the end of the quote. It being done in parallel to the spoken language doesn't really have an equivalent in purely sequential written language.
But yeah, I'd be kinda confused if someone quoted a longer segment and only used the air quotes super briefly before the first word, ending them before the first word started.