Scary quotes draw attention to a topic and often have negative connotations. They can be used sarcastically or to cast doubt on a subject. People should consider the implications before using them, as they can change the meaning of a word or phrase.
Scary quotes are quotation marks that are not used to identify a direct quote, but rather to draw attention to a particular issue under discussion. There are several ways to use them, but in most cases they have a negative connotation. Before people use them, they should consider the negative implications that accompany them.
A classic use of scary quotes comes up when someone wants to use a term while at the same time getting away from it. For example, someone writing about self-improvement courses might use the term “self-actualization,” indicating that the term comes from the organization offering the courses. The use of these quotes also tends to cast doubt on the subject under discussion.
People also use them in a disparaging way, in which case they may become known as sneer quotes. Someone writing a furious letter to the editor about a planning commission meeting might use scary quotes like this: “The ‘planning commission’ members claim to work for the city, but I think they are implementing policies that actually work against us. .” In this sentence, the sarcastic quotes suggest that the planning commission is a disreputable body that is not doing its job.
You may also see scary quotes that wrap around a slang term or unusual use of a word, often in the sense of driving away. An older generation member might, for example, put “rap music” in quotation marks to identify it as a slang term, while someone who wished to disparage the genre might say “rap music,” adding a sense of sarcasm.
The irony and sarcasm of scary quotes is not limited to the text. In speech communications, people may curl their fingers above their heads and wave them to suggest quotes while discussing something, for example, or they may change their tone of voice to identify them. In some cases, people may even make quotation marks explicit in oral communications, with statements such as “The planning commission in quotation marks doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job” or “Human society in quotation marks appears to be killing a lot of animals.”
Fear quotes are often overused, so people should always assess a situation before applying them. They should keep the sarcasm factor in mind when using them, as they often change the meaning of the enclosed word or phrase to its exact opposite. Would someone buy fruit from a grocery store with “fresh fruit” or insurance from a company that advertises “low rates”?
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