the older, preferred trick is the use of sic (Latin 'thus') "to indicate the a word was misspelled or is being used improperly"
Or the very nobby version of soi disent from French and loosely translated as so-called.
His soi disent friend interupted us.
I have usually seen sic to mean "I recognize that this word is not correct but I can't change it because I am quoting someone and I just wanted to point out that it is their mistake and not mine."
Used in moderation I don't have a problem with scare-quotes. They merely indicate visually what in conversation the tone of voice would do audibly.