Handling Spoken 'Quote' and 'Unquote' in Testimony
The Quotation Mark
Rulebase Summary
When the word "quote" or "unquote" is spoken aloud by a witness or attorney, put in the words as said, surround them with commas, and also use the quotation marks around the quoted material. The spoken "quote/unquote" signals that the speaker is intentionally quoting.
Examples
A. He said he was going to quote take care of the problem unquote.
A. He said he was going to, quote, "take care of the problem," unquote.
Include spoken words plus quotation marks around quoted material.
A. She told me it was quote not my concern.
A. She told me it was, quote, "not my concern."
Commas around 'quote'; quotation marks around the material.
Transcript Notes
When 'quote' and 'unquote' are said together, put a slash between them: 'quote/unquote.' Never omit the quotation marks just because the words 'quote' or 'unquote' are spoken — punctuation is never omitted because of words that are said.
Style Guide References (2)
BGGP
Morson's