I don’t have an exact cite handy, but a number of times recently I’ve read articles in the newspaper where they quote somebody in a manner similar to the following:
Now, forgive me if I’m wrong here, but I’ve always understood that the whole purpose of saying “quote unquote” was to indicate verbally that certain words should be included within quotation marks. Why on earth would a newspaper actually write out “quote unquote” when quoting somebody instead of just using quotation marks in the appropriate place?
Of course, if you want to get nitpicky, I remember reading years ago that using “quote unquote” to indicate quotation marks is incorrect speech, and that the speaker should actually begin the quote with “quote” and end it with “end quote”. Be that as it may, it’s still obvious that the speaker means his words to be enclosed in quotation marks and not be quoted as saying “quote unquote.”
What’s next? Maybe we’ll soon see a newspaper quote like this:
Doesn’t bother me. Mr. Jones did not use quotation marks when he spoke, he said words. The article accurately repeated those words (and of course used quotation marks around Mr. Jones’ whole sentence). If the article had been quoting written material that already included quotation marks, then the use of quotation marks (single and double, as appropriate) would have been called for.
I see the second example differently. The finger gestures are not words that can be recounted. Since it’s clear that the intent is to use quotation marks in oral speech, I would think it appropriate for the article to insert those marks where indicated.
It is to indicate, when speaking, that the person is relating a direct quote and not paraphrasing. It seems in the example that Mr. Jones wanted to use “public servants” in a sarcastic manner. In speech, he would change the emphasis on “public servants” to convey his meaning; he should not say, “Quote/unquote public servants”. In text, Mr. Jones should have put quotation marks around “public servants” to convey that meaning. However, if the paper was quoting Mr. Jones directly it would have had to print “quote/unquote” because that’s what Mr. Jones actually said. (I suppose they could have printed “[sic]” to indicate that.)
I find myself making quotation marks with my fingers when I talk. This bugs the hell out of me. I was in a meeting when a Human Relations person did that for every other sentence! I try to make a conscious effort to refrain from sign language in this case, and use inflection instead. But it’s a hard habit to break.
Another aspect of this is that with the “quote unquote,” it’s not necessarily clear which word or words were meant to be in the quotation mark-- was it “public servants” or “public” servants? The reporter might unwittingly misrepresent the intended message if he guesses wrong about that. With the finger gestures, presumably the timing of those gestures clearly indicates the intended use of quotation marks.