In the following quote, it seems (to me at least) quite difficult to figure out what exactly is being quote:
“The best cure—quote, unquote—for aging is slowing disease,” Daniel Kraft, the chair of […]
My questions are the following:
- Isn't it better English to write (and say): "The best cure—quote— for aging—unquote— is slowing disease.”
- How did the usage of "quote, unquote" come to be? In French, people say "ouvrir les guillemets" then "fermer les guillemets" (literally open/close quotes) which better delimits what is quoted.
By the way, I am surprise that this question hasn't been asked already: did I not enter to appropriate search terms?
Best Answer
Unlike the earlier reply, I would interpret that sentence with the quotes around "cure". I think they were probably added as an afterthought, after cure had been uttered, to indicate that it was not really a cure that was being described.
It is unclear what is intended when the quote...unquote are adjacent, but it is often used that way. I would try to avoid the ambiguity, and, as you suggest, speak the punctuation in the correct places.
This construction would not be used in writing, unless reporting verbatim on a speech. It can also be "signed" with the fingers when talking face-to-face.