scare quote

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English

WOTD – 5 July 2011

Alternative forms

Etymology

Coined by British analytic philosopher G. E. M. Anscombe in 1956 in her essay “Aristotle and the Sea Battle”.[1] Originally spelt with a hyphen as scare-quotes.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

Noun

Examples
  • Their "good solution" caused only more problems. (implying their solution is bad)
  • 臺灣「國防部」／台湾「国防部」  ―  táiwān “guófángbù”   ―  The "Ministry of Defence" of Taiwan (implying non-recognition of the Taiwan Government)
  • 남조선 《대통령》선거
    South Korean "Presidential" Election (implying non-recognition of the South Korean Government)

scare quote (plural scare quotes)

  1. (chiefly in the plural) A quotation mark deliberately used to provoke a reaction or to indicate that the author does not approve of a term or clause, rather than to identify a direct quotation.
    Synonyms: shudder quote, sneer quote
    • 2001 January 1, “The Retreat From Inquiry and Knowledge in Special Education.”, in Journal of Special Education:
      One other important figure in postmodern thought is Richard Rorty, who might be characterized as master of the scare quote
    • 2004, P Timms, What's Wrong with Contemporary Art?:
      He is inordinately fond of the scare quote, a sign that he is not really sure of what he's talking about.
    • 2006 September 6, “Where Hairsplitting Can Become High Drama”, in New York Sun:
      An incidental pleasure is his witty mastery of the scare quote and the square bracket.
    • 2008, D Jeske, “Friendship and the grounds of reasons”, in papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca:
      I put the relevant pronouns in scare quote because Bundy’s interviewers succeeded in getting Bundy to talk about his crimes only by allowing him to describe them in the third person

Translations

References

  1. ^ G. E. M. Anscombe (1956 January) “Aristotle and the Sea Battle”, in Gilbert Ryle, F. C. Bartlett, C. D. Broad, editors, Mind‎, volume 65, number 1, Edinburgh: T. Nelson & Sons, →DOI, →JSTOR, page 3: “The ‘scare-quotes’ are mine; Aristotle is not overtly discussing the expression “whichever happens”.”

Further reading

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