English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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Noun

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Examples
Their "good solution" caused only more problems.

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. [from 1956]
    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
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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ G. E. M. Anscombe (1956 January) “Aristotle and the Sea Battle”, in Gilbert Ryle, F. C. Bartlett, C. D. Broad, editors, Mind[1], 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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