"greengrocer's apostrophe" (was Re: Cam(pb)ell)

[Arnold Zwicky]

steve k.:

  do you call them greengrocer's scarequotes, too?
  "fresh" muskemelon's -- only "one dollar"

no.  for one thing, they're not scarequotes.  scarequotes are quotes
(that is, quotation marks) used for one of their legitimate functions;
the name "scarequote" denotes both form and function.  if i said
that, i should also be talking about the "greengrocer's possessive
apostrophe".  this would not be helpful terminology.

i don't in fact have a special term for quotes used for emphasis.
not even "greengrocer's quotes", though that would make sense.

actually, i don't expect most americans to understand "greengrocer's
apostrophe".  i try to use it only when i think my audience will
have heard the term already.

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)