word histories

‘air quotes’: meaning and origin (opens in new tab)

a notional set of quotation marks gestured by a speaker’s fingers in the air, to indicate that what is being said is ironic, mocking, etc.—USA, 1989

Read the original article
Sign in to keep reading the full article.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Navigation

Next / previous post
j/k
Open post
oorEnter
Preview post
v

Post Actions

Love post
a
Like post
l
Dislike post
d
Undo reaction
u
Save / unsave
s

Recommendations

Add interest / feed
Enter
Not interested
x

Go to

Home
gh
Interests
gi
Feeds
gf
Likes
gl
History
gy
Changelog
gc
Settings
gs
Discover
gb
Search
/

General

Show this help
?
Submit feedback
!
Close modal / unfocus
Esc

Press ? anytime to show this help