Talk:Air quotes

Philosophers and Linguists
I once read that it was used systematically by a well-known logician or linguist (Tarski? Chomsky?) in the 1950's to convey in lectures the use of a quoted linguistic expression as a name for its own form, i.e. " 'snow' " means the word "snow" whereas "snow" refers to the substance snow.

Does anyone have a source for this? It would give some weight to the history of this sign well before its passage into popular culture. -- 84.227.230.13 (talk) 07:25, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

Victor Borge
I would have thought that the likeliest origin for air quotes is Victor Borges visual punctuation. -- 82.181.254.50 17:18, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

Germans?
I'm a German native speaker, and I've never seen any of my fellow speakers using an "inverted hand" to mimic German-style quotes, and the whole idea seems pretty silly to me. I'd say this is an urban legend.

Also, the famous "laser" quote performed by Dr. Evil in Austin Powers should be added as an example. --Mkill (talk) 05:44, 24 March 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree, there should be some reference to Austin powers. That movie really boosted the popularity of air qotes--58.173.93.72 (talk) 13:03, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Guillemets
How would one do a Guillemet finger quote? Scytheandsickle (talk) 21:14, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I think WP:V needs to be considered. I've never seen it, at least. Codster925 (talk) 04:42, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

Image
Added image to demonstrate air quotes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Historydude69 (talk • contribs) 21:14, 25 March 2011 (UTC)


 * OK, I'd say that this is a gesture for "snails attack". Pkunk (talk) 19:41, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Only at the begin and end?
Don't people also keep flexing their fingers thru out the whole word or phrase somtimes? --TiagoTiago (talk) 01:17, 10 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Good question. IIRC I have also heard people say (both halves of) "quote / unquote" before pronouncing the word or phrase that they wish to mock or otherwise call attention to.


 * I think that is done mostly when it is a single word, and typically without (i.e., instead of) any finger or hand motions. Just my 0.02... --Mike Schwartz (talk) 23:54, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

"air quotes" rhymes with "scare quotes"
The mention of "scare quotes" in the last sentence of the article (at least, in this version of the article) suggests that the phrase "scare quotes" might have influenced the choice of words (well, at least, the first word) in [the etymology of] the phrase "air quotes".

Would it be OK to mention that "air quotes" rhymes with "scare quotes", right after that?

Example:
"Also, 'air quotes' rhymes with 'scare quotes'."

Comments welcome. --Mike Schwartz (talk) 23:45, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

"Bended" vs "Bent"
Sorry, I don't remember how to edit correctly. Revert if you see fit. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.136.139.238 (talk) 12:43, 11 December 2023 (UTC)

Other uses
I think they are also used to emphasize that one read or heard something from a source, that is unreliable, fallacious, or that one disagrees with that 5.173.176.42 (talk) 10:50, 17 May 2024 (UTC)


 * I understand this as roughly the meaning behind scare quotes; is this what you mean too? — HTGS (talk) 05:23, 21 May 2024 (UTC)