Editor's note, part 2

The other member of the grammar family (besides commas, semicolons, and the occasional hyphen) that I enjoy using and abusing is the air quote. I loves me some air quotes. I will also frequently misuse them on purpose in order to keep my listener on his or her toes. For example:

Me: "So are you going to go [air quotes] shopping [air quotes] today?"

This is usually greeted by a puzzled silence and a response to the effect of, "Um, yeah, I'm ACTUALLY going shopping today. For GROCERIES......what the hell is wrong with you???"

Ah yes. Good times with the air quotes.

When I was in college I went on a date with a guy who ended up being a bit on the sketchy side. Needless to say there was not a second date, and whenever I referred to him after that I put air quotes around his name:

Me: "So [air quotes] Duayne* [air quotes] called me again today. He just can't take a hint!!"

The "Duayne" air quotes drove everyone bonkers....I mean, his name actually WAS Duayne--I wasn't being sarcastic or satirical or (hello, Alanis Morissette) ironic. I just felt as though the air quotes nicely encapsulated his sketchiness.

At any rate, today I was reading my new favorite blog (and weapon of mass procrastination) and I found the link to this blog after my very own, incorrectly air-quoting heart. The links to both blogs are also in my sidebar. Enjoy.

On a final note, my (former) Thai co-worker once asked me to explain air quotes, since apparently I really do use them all the time. Air quotes are an extremely difficult thing to explain to someone from a different cultural and linguistic background. They can also vary across cultures. For instance, when I lived in Ireland I noticed that the Irish air quote users would only scratch the air with one index finger on each hand. I assume that this is to match the way that quotations are written on paper over there (' '), as opposed to the double quotations (" ") that we use in the United States and that serve as the inspiration for the dual finger air quote.

I am having an unproductive afternoon. I guess it's time to get back to "work."

*Not his real name, but how awesome would that have been if it was?? He might have gotten a second date!!