3 ms·
The scare quotes in the title read as sarcasm but they clearly didn’t intend them as such. An odd choice as I almost overlooked the article assuming it was a ta
by donatj 6y ago
The scare quotes in the title read as sarcasm but they clearly didn’t intend them as such. An odd choice as I almost overlooked the article assuming it was a tale of some failed hackers.
- ChrisSD 6y agoThe author uses quotes as actual quotes instead of as scare quotes. I'm not a fan of "scare" quotes so I'd be very pleased if other journalists did the same even if it takes some getting used to.
- egeozcan 6y agoI use "(!)" when I mean sarcasm: > Expert (!) hackers used... I hope then it's clear they are not experts really and when I say "experts" it's clear that I'm just quoting.
- justusthane 6y agoI would not understand that you were using that to indicate sarcasm—I would think you were emphasizing the fact that they're experts. I also don't think that usage is in any style guide, so you're not going to see journalists doing it. On the other hand, using quotation marks to indicate sarcasm or irony is normal use and is in style guides. You just have to rely on context to differentiate. The headline of the linked article is pretty ambiguous and like GP I read them as sarcasm. I think it was a poor choice to include them at all in this case—they don't add anything to the headline.
- egeozcan 6y agoI don't know why started using it but it's in wiktionary so everyone should (!) understand it: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/(!) I don't know why started using it but it's in wiktionary so "everyone should" understand it: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/(!) I guess, as you also mentioned, without enough context around it, both are hard to understand.
- egeozcan 6y agocorrected link https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%28%21%29 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%28%21%29
- kjakm 6y agoIt's surrounded by quotation marks...because it's a quotation. Pretty standard. I'd estimate about half the headlines I see on the BBC News website these days have one of two words in quotes. It seems to allow them to create a clickbaity headline while not being inaccurate.
- gtirloni 6y agoAre scare quotes the only type of quotes these days? I remember in school we were taught they could be used for emphasis.
- Number157 6y agoSeems like it. The media tend to use quotes to emphasize that the thing they are writing is not something they believe. X is dangerous VS X is "dangerous" The implication is true vs not true.