How do you feel about the use of "Air Quotes"?

If done occasionally, I don’t really mind. If it is a habit of the speaker, I tire of it quickly.

I think air quotes gives you automatic permission to kick that person in the throat.

I guess it depends on what is being quoted and what the speaker sounds like. They are a bit annoying but they have their place.

I don’t see anything wrong with them actually. Some times they even a nice flavor to the conversation, speech.. etc. :)

However too much “air quotes” might make the speaker look like he has no idea what he’s talking about.

Well, the problem with the whole hand quoting thing is that they are using quotes all wrong to begin with. Maybe my grammar is bad but I don’t remember using quotes to put emphasis on any words. Its just annoying when some ”people” use it like that. Like why are you qouting your emphasis I don’t get it.
Note: even fluther says emphasis is done with italics. (its in the example of how to put emphasis on words in fluther)

@LKidKyle1985

Actually, I think that by air quotes, they don’t really mean quotes. I think it’s more a appropriate to call them double brackets, like ((this)). But some people wrongfully call them quotes.

I dunno they still use the brackets wrong too

@LKidKyle1985

>>Note: even fluther says emphasis is done with italics. (its in the example of how to put emphasis on words in fluther) <<

Italic emphasis is used by default in HTML, that’s why you might find some web developers using italic font for emphasis.

yeah but my point is, what ever you do to put emphasis on a word its normally in italics because thats what is common in written english now days especially since the creation of the internet. You most definately do not use ” ” or (( )) to put emphasis in written english, therefore Air “quoting” or ((bracketing)) is not correctly used.

The only time air qouting is appropriate is when you use it to qoute someone else, usually mockingly. For example. Did you hear what Jeana said? she said it was ”cool” to air qoute

What people get annoyed by is when people do stuff like in the first example given in the question. like, when ”some” people use air quotes like that.

I ((did)) hear that she [Jeana] said she was “cool”, what a conceited bitch

I’ve never seen people use air quotes for emphasis. When I see them used it’s almost always as scare quotes. When I use air quotes, it’s always as scare quotes and usually (if not always) in excess and for humorous effect in a specific context. But perhaps that usage is not common outside my circle of relatively close friends.

I use them sometimes when I’m actually quoting something…

I worked with a woman (a VP of the company no less) who air quoted every fourth or fifth word habitually.

I had to resist the urge to break her fingers.

If used occasionally for “comedic effect”, they can be fun, but no, not all the time.

@LKidKyle1985: Would you rather they judo chop the air around them at a forty-five degree angle to indicate italics?

@asmonet : I lol’d…
I know that isn’t an answer, but I had to let you know.

Any unecessary hand gestures done while speaking make me angry. You won’t like me when I’m angry.

I generally use them when quoting someone. And I make a tyrannosaurus hand, slice it through the air once, say whatever I’m quoting, make a tyrannosaurus hand with the other hand, and slice it through the air once again.

I don’t do the double quote where, if actually writing, you’d get ”“this””. Mostly because after watching someone use a lot of air quotes in middle school once, we walked around saying “I’m a tyrannosaurus” and attacking with our air quotes. (This, inevitably, led to things like “I’m a French tyrannosaurus”, “I’m a German tyrannosaurus” using air quotes appropriate to that language.)

I think it makes the speaker look like an <air quote>idiot<air quote>.

By the way, instead of making a big fuss about <air quote> Air Quotes <air quote>, how about we first find an explanation for the internet slang we all use very often.

What the hell is “PWNED!!”, “L337”, “n00b”, or even “All your base ARE belong to us!!!”??
Although I know where the last one came from, but still..

Aren’t all those spelled wrong? So, it’s just the same! :)
Air Quotes are the emphasis tools we use when while speaking not while writing (For example you can write something in italic or bold to emphasize, but can you say something in italic or bold??), since they are the best way to emphasize something. At least they’re better than raising your voice or changing your tone.. etc.

But the charm of those phrases is found in their imaginative spelling and grammar.

And by the time I was old enough to find air quotes annoying, I was also over so called “L337 SP34|<”.

You can say something in bold by changing the volume of your voice. You can say something in italic by changing the inflection or adding pauses appropriately. Voice is a very versatile communication medium.

When John McCain used them talking about abortion and the “safety of the mother,” Jon Stewart called them ”‘air quotes’ or as we like to say, ‘dick hands.’”

@PupnTaco: When John McCain used them to talk about the safety of the mother and abortion, millions of people saw red with rage. I was one of them. I have never been so angry with a politician in my life.

@asmonet
Well that would certainly be interesting :P but what I prefer is people just put a stress, or what ever its called when you do it, on what ever word they are trying to put emphasis on. But if you are incapable of using your voice to create emphasis, judo chops are awesome.

I actually kind of love the judo chop idea. I am going to begin doing it.

And pwned is just awesome, all it means is you’ve been ‘owned’ or served or beaten severely. So shoosh. :)

Although, it should judoneverchop be used outside of a gaming context.

i use air quotes..sometimes wrongfully and sometimes rightfully…and i just want to slap myself every time i do it