Making Light:  Open Thread 161 ::: July 26, 2011, 04:08 PM

Jacque @342:  The two terms are independent:  I don't believe either
derives from the other.

Air quotes are gestures made with the fingers to signify quotes, like
air guitar.

Scare quotes are quotes used to discredit (or at least withhold
support from) the utterance, as opposed to attributing the utterance
to a third person.  They are used to warn that the utterance is
misleading.

Certainly written quotes may be used either to attribute or discredit
a phrase.  On the other hand, while air quotes are usually used as scare
quotes, they may denote attribution.  For instance, the statements

  He asked, "Who is innocent?" during wartime.

and

  He asked, "Who is innocent during wartime?"

may be hard to distinguish when spoken.  I have seen people raise
their fingers in air quotes to indicate the quoted phrase when saying
such a sentence.

Spoken attributive quotation is sometimes indicated by using the words
quote and unquote to surround the quotation.  These words may also
be used as oral scare quotes, but they are usually spoken together,
preceding the scare-quoted statement.  See, for example, explanations
by The Free Dictionary or John Lawler.  Hope you appreciate this
"educational" interlude.