: Why use quotes on the word "Dad" when talking to someone? If a step-father is texting his step daughter and he writes: Maybe your "dad" can step up and take the dog What's meant

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Any word with quotation marks around it which is not a direction quotation implies the word is false or the statement is not wholly true.

If it's freezing outside and I go out, I might say that I'm entering the "freezer." I'm not saying I'm literally entering a freezer, but that the outdoors is similar to a freezer in terms of the temperature.

Similarly, if a step-father says to his step-daughter that her "dad" could take care of the dog, he's subtly showing his opinion that her "dad" isn't acting like one. Or, while being her biological father, no longer fills that role for her. Depending on the context, there are several meanings which could be implied, but they all have the same general flavor.

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Because he is literally quoting her.
Presumably, if we can read way too far into this, our stepfather feels that he fills the role of a father in his stepdaughter's life. He presumably provides for her, spends time with her, sees to her needs, perhaps goes to school plays and parent-teacher conferences, signs permission forms...all the things that a dad does. However, she does not grant him the affectionate and intimate title of Dad - she reserves that title for her biological father, who our offended stepfather feels does not deserve it.
Thus when she is upset with him for not doing something for her - apparently he refused to walk the dog - he uses her own words to refer to a person who he knows will not put himself out for her, offset with quotes to show that it's not him who calls this person her dad.
The same can be done with other titles:

His Holiness, the Pope - indicates that the Pope is holy - vs His "Holiness", the Pope - indicates that the Pope says he's holy.
President Donald Trump - indicates that Donald Trump is President - vs "President" Donald Trump - indicates that Donald Trump is not acting like a president, whatever he says.

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There is a difference between a dad and a dad.

Your quote comes from the step father, so it is likely that he (and possibly his step daughter too) only see the other dad as the biological producer, but not as father as it is in a family.

Placing dad in "" is a debasement from father as part of the family to father as the producer of a child.

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