At 12:59 PM 7/7/04 -0400, Andrew Stiller wrote: >I picked it up from philosopher Daniel Dennett, who >so far as I know originated it. It is a useful expreession >because it is very easy to overlook scare quotes when >reading, and they tend to be used very sneakily in much >formal argument, with the intention of making you shy >away from accepting the enclosed term at face value, >without the author having to actually make a case why >you should do so. A parenthetical "(sic)" used to be used >the same way, but scare quotes are much more subtle and >insidious. That said, their use can be perfectly legitimate--so >long as everybody understands what's being done. Anyway, >if you don't call them "scare quotes," what do you call them?
Just quotes. But I'd be happy to use a less negative term such as the nicely alliterative "quarrel quotes" -- credit me, please. :) I use quarrel quotes for a term belonging to the person, interest group, subculture, party, corporation, government (etc.) putting forth the term's meaning that is not in common with my meaning. The quotes demonstrate that it is *in fact* a quote, and beyond that, it is not my meaning (as the writer doing the quoting). So to me it's not insidious at all; it's a shortcut to saying "I am quoting this because the usage or meaning are not mine, but that of the person quoted. My point of view will become clear by the context in which I am quoting it, whether ironic or argumentative or sardonic. In order to do this successfully, I must assume you have read or heard that usage, so you understand it, or that if you have not read or heard that usage, you will realize my intent and seek out the full original quote -- which it is certainly not my responsibility to present, as that puts forth an argument which is not mine and wastes my time and everyone else who is already familiar with that usage. In the interim, therefore, do not accept the meaning as mine, get off your mental butts, and do some gosh darn thinking." What's insidious is labeling this benign usage with the pejorative "scare". Did anybody ever get scared? Was this a assonant play on "air quotes"? Or maybe poor ol' Dennett has an axe to grind, eh? A wounded curmudgeon philosopher who's been on the receiving end of quarrel quotes too often, perhaps? :) :) :) Dennis _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
