• @[email protected]
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    1284 months ago

    It’s “quote unquote something” because most people who "quote something often forget to unquote afterwards.

  • andyburke
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    474 months ago

    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.

    • @[email protected]
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      104 months ago

      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.

  • shastaxc
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    264 months ago

    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

  • @[email protected]
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    224 months ago

    Wait, it’s “quote unquote”? I have always been saying “quote on quote” my whole life.

  • @[email protected]
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    114 months ago

    this is one of those things that I have wondered about for so long that I forgot to wonder about it

  • @[email protected]
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    104 months ago

    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.

  • Eww
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    94 months ago

    This is considered quote unquote “Lazy”

  • JackbyDev
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    4 months ago

    Because “quote unquote” is done for a laugh typically and “quote unquote” sounds funnier and more pleasing to the ear.

  • @[email protected]
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    84 months ago

    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.

  • Like the wind...
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    84 months ago

    Unrelated but until a month ago I’ve been saying “quote ON quote” until I saw it actually written 😂🤣

  • @[email protected]
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    04 months ago

    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.

    • @[email protected]
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      54 months ago

      It’s useful for when you’re quoting someone who happens to use the exact same intonation as you!

    • @[email protected]
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      34 months ago

      I’m from the UK and I feel like I’ve heard enough UK English speakers saying “quote” that I had never thought of it as an American thing. That isn’t to say that the distinction you make doesn’t exist though, just that it may be variable across demographics or contexts.

  • Altima NEO
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    -44 months ago

    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.