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Why do you claim it is an Americanism? The term 'scare-quotes' was coined by a British philosopher, Elizabeth Anscombe, who references her use of them in a 1956
by technothrasher 26d ago
Why do you claim it is an Americanism? The term 'scare-quotes' was coined by a British philosopher, Elizabeth Anscombe, who references her use of them in a 1956 essay. This would imply that they were in use in British English at least by the 1950s, with no indication as to whether they were imported from US English.
- ljf 22d agoBecause we very rarely use the term here - it might have been coined here but it has only limited traction. Most people will call them quote marks/quotation marks, and realised that they mean the text is a direct quote of something that has been spoken or written.