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red_pigeon@lemm.ee to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world · 6 months ago

Why do people say "quote unquote something" and not "quote something unquote" ?

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Why do people say "quote unquote something" and not "quote something unquote" ?

red_pigeon@lemm.ee to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world · 6 months ago
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  • lath@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

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

    • cleverusername@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      I see what you did there… 🤣

    • 𝕽𝖚𝖆𝖎𝖉𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍@midwest.social
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      6 months ago

      And that breaks the processor and you have to reboot your listener and it’s such a paaaaaiin.

      • FierySpectre@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Broke my brain, had to read 4 times to understand

  • andyburke@fedia.io
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    6 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.

  • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    6 months ago

    It’s the verbal equivalent of quotation marks done as a hand gesture.

    • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world
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      6 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.

      • swab148@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        One hand for quote, the other for unquote

        • half@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          If anyone did this in front of me I would smack them in the mouth.

  • shastaxc@lemm.ee
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    6 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

    • .Donuts@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Plausible for programmers, at least

    • Cycadophyta@lemmy.cafe
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      6 months ago

      This is a solid take

    • toynbee@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      I hate this functionality.

  • EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works
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    6 months ago

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

    • /home/pineapplelover@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      Bone apple tea

    • DrSteveBrule@mander.xyz
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      6 months ago

      France is bacon

    • Kayday@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      That’s your two sense, anyway

    • Sidyctism II.@discuss.tchncs.de
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      6 months ago

      truly a doggy dog world

  • 8000gnat@reddthat.com
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    6 months ago

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

    • And009@reddthat.com
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      6 months ago

      How would I even know where the quote ended

  • SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world
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    6 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.

    • Incandemon@lemmy.ca
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      deleted by creator

      • SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Indeed. With very slowly pronounced “bunny ear finger quotes” as you say it to emphasize the sarcasm.

    • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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      6 months ago

      Usually I hear this as “quote something end quote”

  • Eww@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    This is considered quote unquote “Lazy”

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

  • Like the wind...@sh.itjust.works
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    6 months ago

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

    • nocturne@sopuli.xyz
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      6 months ago

      When I was younger I said quote END quote.

    • modifier@lemmy.ca
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      6 months ago

      As a homeschooled kid, I usually had the opposite problem. Mispronounced so much shit.

      • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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        6 months ago

        Archipelago.

  • FourPacketsOfPeanuts@lemmy.world
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    6 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.

    • SatyrSack@feddit.org
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      6 months ago

      Regular people on the other hand, are lazy, inconsistent and generally oblivious to whether or not they’re being ambiguous.

      me_irl

      • FourPacketsOfPeanuts@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        o7

  • Trollivier@sh.itjust.works
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    6 months ago

    You’ll hear it sometimes in French.

  • Pixel@lemmy.sdf.org
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    6 months ago

    I think because one gets the point across easily while the other is pedantic

  • Redacted@lemmy.world
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    6 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.

    • Pixel@lemmy.sdf.org
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      6 months ago

      Can I quote you on that?

    • otp@sh.itjust.works
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      It’s useful for when you’re quoting someone who happens to use the exact same intonation as you!

    • AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net
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      6 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@lemmy.zip
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    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.

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