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Brackets (and how to use them)
Author : Catie Holdridge
Posted : 10 / 12 / 09
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So, those emoticon smiles: what else can they be used for?
Imagine the contents of round brackets (or parentheses) as an aside that might be said behind your hand (an actor on a stage might anyway).
These punctuation marks come in handy to:
You don’t have much time left to finish your Christmas shopping (only six shopping days!).
At this time of year, many people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD); although equally problematic during December is pogonophobia (a fear of beards).
If you’re wondering where to put punctuation around brackets, you’ll soon find out (see below).
To learn more about pogonophobia, see The Big Book of Phobias (p92).
The effects of SAD can be quite debilitating (believe me).
The Christmas e-bulletin should be well-received by its already tipsy reader(s).
But parentheses are not to be confused with square brackets. These can be used to:
Emphasis staff will be required to wear Santa hats to work throughout December [Catie to purchase these].
She said, ‘If you make me wear that thing [the Santa hat] to work, I’m quitting.’
In these cases, you can just replace the word(s) being clarified eg
‘I said: if you make me put on [the Santa hat], I’m quitting. Humbug!’
It can be confusing working out where to put the punctuation around brackets (but we’re here to help):
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