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Who are y'all quoting?

KO2134

Registered User
when using the word mainstream i noticed nearly every member on here puts quotes around it who are y'all quoting
 

Michael Hatley

Premium Member
I for one dislike the word because it implies that PHA is somehow inferior, so if I use it I put it in quotes to disassociate myself from the word, but found myself lacking a better one to use in that instance. Especially where using A.F.&A.M might have confused the issue further.

In other words, the quotes signify that it is someone else's word, not mine.
 

BryanMaloney

Premium Member
The practice, in this case, is known as scare quoting. Scare quotes are used very often as a substitute for constantly writing soi disant or "so-called". This is different from use-mention quotation, which is to indicate that one is citing the word in question instead of simply using it, and different from reference quoting, in which one purports to present exact words from another source. Thus, when one sees "mainstream" masonry to refer to those USA masonic organizations that are not PHA and have been traditionally white or predominantly white, this is a substitute for "so-called mainstream". PHA masonry is in truth no more mainstream than the "mainstream", but the term has been applied so long that it is a convenient short-hand.
 

Spring TX MM

Premium Member
I for one dislike the word because it implies that PHA is somehow inferior, so if I use it I put it in quotes to disassociate myself from the word, but found myself lacking a better one to use in that instance. Especially where using A.F.&A.M might have confused the issue further.

In other words, the quotes signify that it is someone else's word, not mine.

I'm pretty much doing the same as Bro. Hatley. I use the quotations to signify the word as a stereotype and to disassociate myself from the word.

S&F,
Kyle
 
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