in inverted commas

(British & Australian)

something that you say when a phrase you are using to describe something is the phrase that people usually use but it does not really show the truth

Usage notes: Inverted commas are a pair of printed marks put at the beginning and end of a word or phrase to show that someone else has written or said it.

They were the kind of well-meaning people that wanted to 'do good' in inverted commas.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Placid	PLA-sid	English (Rare)
Anja	AHN-yah (Swedish, Finnish, Croatian, Serbian, German)	Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, German, Dutch
Whatley	['hwɔtli]
Paul	PAWL (English), POL (French), POWL (German)	English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Romanian, Biblical
Aelfric	['ælfrik]
Hesiodos	-	Ancient Greek