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Subject:RE: Simple symbol question From:KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 22 Oct 2001 09:35:45 -0400
But... but... but...
If you call 'em "brackets", then don't you find yourself
needing long-winded qualifiers for the other types?
"Put that in brackets."
"Um, you mean round brackets, square brackets or those curly things?"
"Oh, hell. Use parentheses."
In addition, isn't it long-winded to speak of "enclosing that
text string between less-than and greater-than symbols"?
I'd just say... "angle-bracket that variable".
(Don't you just hate casual verbization? Blecch! And yet.. :-)
Maybe a symbol can have more than one name, depending
upon context.
/kevin
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jonathan Stoppi [mailto:stops -at- qualum -dot- com]
> Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 12:19 AM
>
> Jean Hollis Weber asks:
>
> >>As Peter has a UK address, I'm wondering whether Brits call ( and )
> parentheses or brackets or something else?<<
>
> Brackets.
>
> As someone who spent five years of his childhood in NYC and
> thought he knew
> "Murcan", I was really surprised that Americans preferred the
> longwinded,
> Latin-based "parentheses" for this.
>
> And then I remembered: that is the country where things are no longer
> increased, improved, or just done - but augmented, ameliorated, and
> accomplished.
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