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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

quote

Hi,

Can you call anything that is in quotation marks a quote -- whether quoting what someone said or highlighting some unusal use of a word?
1. And would you say the following is good?

I don't like those students who think their main task in school is "sit in the chair and fill the eight-hour-time." The lazy "sit in the chair and fill the eight-hour-time" should be replaced with a work-to-produce-some-result time.

Many students seeem to have this attitude "sit in the chair and dream aways the hours" is OK and I say that that is not OK.

2. How would say those in quotes in a speaking situation? Would you resort to the use of "quote" and "unquote" to indicate the quotation marks? I think not becasue I believe this "quote and unquote" is used when you have used a word/phrase in a strange fashion to emphasize it
.
Joe is a "Superman" type. -- when spoken, "Joe is a "quote" and "unquote" Superman type.
Should I say? Joe is a "quote" - Superman - and "unquote" type, putting the "unquote" after the word "Superman" or before it?
  

Top answer

I would call something "a quote" or "a quotation" only if it was actually quoting what someone had said. Your sentence looks pretty much OK to me. " This lazy attitude should be replaced with "work to produce some results".

  • I would call something "a quote" or "a quotation" only if it was actually quoting what someone had said.
  • Your sentence looks pretty much OK to me.
  • " This lazy attitude should be replaced with "work to produce some results".
  • When reading text I would, where necessary for clarity, say "quote" and "unquote" whatever the purpose of the quote marks.
  • If it was a quotation of what someone had said, then I might alternatively say "open quote" and "close quote".
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1 Answers
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I would call something "a quote" or "a quotation" only if it was actually quoting what someone had said.

Your sentence looks pretty much OK to me. If I was being picky, I might, still preserving the quote style, suggest instead:

I don't like those students who think their main task in school is "sit in the chair and fill the eight hours." This lazy attitude should be replaced

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