3 ms·

Not all quotes are scare quotes.

• CRConrad 5y ago
  But these sure seemed to be.
  • sp332 5y ago
    It's not literal unearthing. So the quotes are to set off the figure of speech. Style guides say not to do it but it's a matter of style, not correctness. I guess that's as strong as you're going to get in colloquial English though :)
    • denton-scratch 5y ago
      Literal unearthing is a fairly rare usage, compared to "to discover through the expenditure of effort". The more-common usage doesn't need quotes; they imply either that it's reported speech, or that the author is sceptical.