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That Disgraceful, Disreputable, (Wonderful) Form of Punctuation: The Parenthesis

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Re: That Disgraceful, Disreputable, (Wonderful) Form of Punctuation: The Parenthesis

#3

Post by oska »

I don't like the two examples of parenthesis used in the title & subtitle of this piece, where they put wonderful and perfect in parentheses before a noun phrase.

Putting adjectives in parentheses before a noun (phrase) is, yes, a useful device but those adjectives should usually be words that give more (but not necessary) information, rather than purely subjective qualifiers such as the two that the author uses. I know they're probably being a bit tongue in cheek but it still grates a little that these were the two examples they led with.

Re: That Disgraceful, Disreputable, (Wonderful) Form of Punctuation: The Parenthesis

#5

Post by F3nd0 »

oska wrote: post #3

I don't like the two examples of parenthesis used in the title & subtitle of this piece, where they put wonderful and perfect in parentheses before a noun phrase. Putting adjectives in parentheses before a noun (phrase) is, yes, a useful device but those adjectives should usually be words that give more (but not necessary) information, rather than purely subjective qualifiers such as the two that the author uses. I k…

Well, you’re getting more information about the author’s subjective opinion (which they may have deemed unnecessary to include in the main, non-parenthesised text).

Re: That Disgraceful, Disreputable, (Wonderful) Form of Punctuation: The Parenthesis

#6

Post by lioeters »

sudo_cowsay wrote: post #2

I don't know why but I seem to use more parenthesis (even if I should be using commas).

I try not to use parentheses, favoring other ways of interleaving thoughts - like this - unless I feel a stray idea deserves mentioning (like so). What's disgraceful that I'd never do myself, but certainly sympathetic to the motive, are double-parentheses (likely from Lispers (who think in nested lists)).

Re: That Disgraceful, Disreputable, (Wonderful) Form of Punctuation: The Parenthesis

#9

Post by jurip »

The one place where I find parenthesis really jarring is in the middle of quotes. I just can't wrap my head around something like

> "I'm sending (via email) an encrypted message", Alice said to Bob

Especially in a book that's been supposedly copy edited. Em dashes or commas or just a plain run-on sentences feel much more appropriate for the general lack of structure in real speech.

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