Learn English – Quote unquote (or end-quote), unseparated by the actual quotation

#quotationsetymologyphrase-originquotation marks

In spoken English, people often say "quote-unquote" (or "quote-endquote") to indicate that part of what they are saying is a quotation (scare or otherwise). Sometimes the quoted material will go between quote and unquote, and occasionaly it will precede the quote-unquote. Often, though, "quote unquote" introduces the quoted material.

Why does quote unquote precede the quotation?

It would seem that quote opens the quoted text and that unquote closes it, but then why would we close the quotation before actually providing it. It would be the equivalent of writing your quotation marks together, "", rather than around the quoted text.

What are the origins of this construction?

Three years ago ChrisR asked this well-received question on whether it is correct to use quote, unquote. The answers did not deal with origins, but one commenter suggested that quote-unquote is a corruption of quote-on-quote, but he provided no evidence, nor any real explanation.

Best Answer

To the question of the construction/placement, this linguistics professor describes quote/unquote as a "compound prefixal particle", and he explains its usage as a concern by the speaker for improved effect on the listener:

…if you are doing scare quotes in speech, and thereby taking your chances with the listener's short-term memory, chances are you're targeting only one word or phrase—one phonological unit in any case—and you don't really need to mark the end; it's obvious. All you really need is a marker at the beginning to warn your parter to listen ironically.

To the question of origin, Online Etymology Dictionary says:

unquote (v.)

1915, in telegraphs, where punctuation had to be spelled out and quote and unquote were used in place of the quotation marks; from un- "reverse, opposite of" + quote. Quote/unquote together to indicate quotation of the word or phrase to follow (often with ironic intent) is from 1942.

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