airquotes

[Barnhart]

Air quotes appeared in The Barnhart Dictionary Companion (Vol. 6.2, 1991)
with a quote from the Utne Reader (May-June, 1989):

Betty refers to herself as Bob's "old lady."  Bob calls himself "Dad."
When Bob and Betty describe themselves in these ways, they raiser the
middle and forefingers of both hands, momentarily forming twitching bunny
ears--air quotes, the quintessential contemporary gesture that says,
"We're not serious." Paul Rudnick and Kurt Andersen, "The irony epidemic:
The dark side of Fiestaware and the Flintstones," Utne Reader, May/June
1989, p 34

[The article was originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle,
March 21, 1989]

Regards,
David

barnhart at highlands.com

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