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How correct is "quote, unquote" and where does its usage come from?


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:



  1. Isn't it better English to write (and say): "The best cure—quote— for aging—unquote— is slowing disease.”

  2. 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?



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.


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