The use of "Quote ... Unquote"

[Tom]

Hi

I am having trouble understanding the use of "quote...unquote" !Could you please shed some light on it?

Tom

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

Adding the words quote unquote to a spoken sentence indicates that if you had written the particular word(s) or sentence, you would have used quotation marks. (In written English you'd normally just use "quotation marks".)

Sometimes the reason people say quote unquote when speaking is to indicate that they don't necessarily believe or want to take responsibility for what someone else said. Or they may simply want to emphasize that what they are saying is 100% the same as what someone else said.

Does that clear things up?

Amy

[Tom]

Yes, Amy, it does. Thanks.

Is it commonly used? Have you ever used it in teaching students?

Tom

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

I wouldn't consider it at all unusual if I heard someone use quote unquote in a sentence, but I'd say I'd be more likely to use a gesture to indicate the same thing when speaking (my personal preference).

Amy