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Curious: in which branch of English dialect are parentheses called "brackets"? This is a clever little hack which I do not want at all, but I admire the author

Curious: in which branch of English dialect are parentheses called "brackets"? This is a clever little hack which I do not want at all, but I admire the author's creativity in coming up with it.

devidw 4y ago
> Curious: in which branch of English dialect are parentheses called "brackets"? Quoting Wikipedia: > In most English-speaking countries, an unqualified word "bracket" refers to the parenthesis (round bracket); in the United States, the square bracket. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracket https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracket --- Thanks sharing your thoughts. What makes the technique useless for your reading/browsing experience?
- marssaxman 4y ago
  Thank you for the reference! > What makes the technique useless for your reading/browsing experience? It is entirely a matter of personal preference; I tend to read very quickly, and long complex sentences laden with parentheticals are more enjoyable than obstacular.
wilg 4y ago
As an American, I'm constantly confused by this when watching UK television. I would call the [ a "bracket", and only if I had to clarify would I say "square bracket" to distinguish it from a curly brace { (which is sometimes called a curly bracket) and I don't think most Americans would even consider a ( a type of bracket at all. If I had to come up with a rationale, I would say that physical brackets are almost always more square than round, and a bracket graphic in the sense of a sports bracket is also usually square, so brackets are square!
- devidw 4y ago
  Thanks a lot, clarifying this from the US perspective. Will consider coming up with a less misleading naming.
  - gumby 4y ago
    I actually prefer the US usage, as "parenthesis" is such a lovely metonym that describes the thing it encloses. People are used to indicating so anyway in speech (referring to a parenthetical remark). And while in writing parentheses can acceptably be set off in a variety of ways, I have a fondness for the good old parenthetical brackets.
- marssaxman 4y ago
  I asked "which dialect of English calls parentheses 'brackets'", but apparently I got it backwards, and it's only US English which makes the distinction!

Curious: in which branch of English dialect are parentheses called "brackets"? This is a clever little hack which I do not want at all, but I admire the author's creativity in coming up with it.

devidw 4y ago

> Curious: in which branch of English dialect are parentheses called "brackets"? Quoting Wikipedia: > In most English-speaking countries, an unqualified word "bracket" refers to the parenthesis (round bracket); in the United States, the square bracket. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracket https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracket --- Thanks sharing your thoughts. What makes the technique useless for your reading/browsing experience?

marssaxman 4y ago
Thank you for the reference! > What makes the technique useless for your reading/browsing experience? It is entirely a matter of personal preference; I tend to read very quickly, and long complex sentences laden with parentheticals are more enjoyable than obstacular.

wilg 4y ago

As an American, I'm constantly confused by this when watching UK television. I would call the [ a "bracket", and only if I had to clarify would I say "square bracket" to distinguish it from a curly brace { (which is sometimes called a curly bracket) and I don't think most Americans would even consider a ( a type of bracket at all. If I had to come up with a rationale, I would say that physical brackets are almost always more square than round, and a bracket graphic in the sense of a sports bracket is also usually square, so brackets are square!

devidw 4y ago
Thanks a lot, clarifying this from the US perspective. Will consider coming up with a less misleading naming.
- gumby 4y ago
  I actually prefer the US usage, as "parenthesis" is such a lovely metonym that describes the thing it encloses. People are used to indicating so anyway in speech (referring to a parenthetical remark). And while in writing parentheses can acceptably be set off in a variety of ways, I have a fondness for the good old parenthetical brackets.
marssaxman 4y ago
I asked "which dialect of English calls parentheses 'brackets'", but apparently I got it backwards, and it's only US English which makes the distinction!