The key phrase here is “…in writing or printing…”.
Not drawn in the air.
We’ve all seen someone do air quotes. Heaven forbid, most of us have probably actually done them.
This must stop.
You don’t end a question by drawing a big question mark in the air. Nor do you finish a funny or surprising piece of news with a large air exclamation mark.
So why do it with air quotes?
We’ve evolved to communicate with tones and inflections so that what we say is only half the message, how we say it is just as important.
In my experience they are most often used by someone who feels that they are superior to the rest of us, and that their irony must be physically punctuated so as not to be lost. The implication is that their air quotes are actually subtitles for dummies.
Next time someone uses air quotes at you, ensure that when you reply you slap them around with a few commas, then poke them in the eye with a full stop.
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