scare quote
Meanings
noun
- 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.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Coined by British analytic philosopher G. E. M. Anscombe in 1956 in her essay “Aristotle and the Sea Battle”. Originally spelt with a hyphen as scare-quotes.
Synonyms
Related words
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