tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132164.post113840291738529707..comments2023-10-23T14:37:34.169-04:00Comments on pas au-delĂ : your scare quotes, they are really "scaring" meUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132164.post-85027518543752467262009-10-13T07:37:03.284-04:002009-10-13T07:37:03.284-04:00I am neither a phylospher or a poet but may have s...I am neither a phylospher or a poet but may have stumbled upon an instance where the usage of such quotation marks would be deemed acceptable by both the aforementioned.<br /><br />When writing a journal. Some of lifes events are not always happy ones. To the writer, these harrowing thoughts may translate to one word or short phrase contained within quotation marks. If this was then read by someone who knew the writer very well, the true meaning would be understood immediately. <br /><br /><br />"Him"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132164.post-1138637565423223402006-01-30T11:12:00.000-05:002006-01-30T11:12:00.000-05:00Yes, you were trying to be cute.Of course, everyon...Yes, you were trying to be cute.<BR/><BR/>Of course, everyone should stop using scare quotes except when they have good reason to defend them. Inverted commas even moreso. <BR/><BR/>Also, peppering one's text with both, interchangably, tends to make the status of one's inverted commas - hence one's actual thinking - painfully obscure. <BR/><BR/>What on earth do you, Brits, especially, have, against, quotation, marks?<BR/><BR/>Ok I'm finished.Matt Christiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03336678358977647388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132164.post-1138499192105516062006-01-28T20:46:00.000-05:002006-01-28T20:46:00.000-05:00Well I didn't really take you literally. I only m...Well I didn't <EM>really</EM> take you literally. I only meant: "oooh, you're scaaaring me".Keithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01601149905466752999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132164.post-1138498286939791872006-01-28T20:31:00.000-05:002006-01-28T20:31:00.000-05:00So no, not entirely seriously.(My actual position ...So no, not entirely seriously.<BR/><BR/>(My actual position on what counts as philosophy may indeed be <A HREF="http://holdthought.blogspot.com/2006/01/fraudulence-paradox.html" REL="nofollow">rather broad</A>).Matt Christiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03336678358977647388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132164.post-1138495658887197572006-01-28T19:47:00.000-05:002006-01-28T19:47:00.000-05:00Golly, it seems I am doomed to be taken literally....Golly, it seems I am doomed to be taken literally. Yes Keith, but I was the first one to be cute. <BR/><BR/>(As in, the over-reacting may be elsewhere.)Matt Christiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03336678358977647388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132164.post-1138494345623031942006-01-28T19:25:00.000-05:002006-01-28T19:25:00.000-05:00Well, the entire analysis you've presented seems t...Well, the entire analysis you've presented seems to me a bit of an exageration of the phenomenon. (incidentally yes, I was trying to be "cute" with my use of inverted commas).<BR/><BR/>It seems strange that you would have such a reaction the application little marks that enclose words for the purpose of indicating a slightly different reading of whatever words (or phrases) happen to be sandwiched between them. This is not to say that "scare quotes" or inverted commas are not used in a sloppy manner, but for you to imply - as you seem to be doing - that they are useless, meaningless, or should not be used unless the writer is him/herself a philosopher/poet or is referencing a philosopher/poet, well...that's just absurd.<BR/><BR/>Although I appreciate what you are attempting to point out in this post it's a bit of a scarecrow for me, and I find it impossible to take you entirely seriously.Keithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01601149905466752999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132164.post-1138488278001111572006-01-28T17:44:00.000-05:002006-01-28T17:44:00.000-05:00The only person for whom this could be "elitist" i...The only person for whom this could be "elitist" is an anti-intellectual, whether they realize it or not.Matt Christiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03336678358977647388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132164.post-1138488188032995742006-01-28T17:43:00.000-05:002006-01-28T17:43:00.000-05:00I don't understand why you put "meaninful" and "el...I don't understand why you put "meaninful" and "elitist" in inverted commas; are you trying to be cute?<BR/><BR/>It isn't cute.<BR/><BR/>The thing about inverted commas is, they make far more (philosophical) pretense; they are in many ways, therefore, the opposite of "scare quotes." <BR/><BR/>You might say that inverted commas mark a self-conscious failure to reference. Well, some failures are more elegant than others.Matt Christiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03336678358977647388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132164.post-1138473204687064272006-01-28T13:33:00.000-05:002006-01-28T13:33:00.000-05:00I often think to myself that I should stop using "...I often think to myself that I should stop using "scare quotes" as often as I do, and instead search for more 'meaningful' ways of articulating my thought. As for the case of the inverted commas, the way you describe their use makes them sound rather 'elitist'.Keithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01601149905466752999noreply@blogger.com