are parentheses overused
The following bulleted statements review the use of other punctuation, such as periods, question marks, exclamation points, dashes, parentheses, and brackets. 1  Use periods to end statements, commands, indirect questions, and polite requests. 2  Use periods to punctuate some abbreviations. See Chapter 16 for specifics. To give our sentences variety and complexity, we include much more than the basic information in every sentence. We include digressions and asides, commentary, parentheticals, and other interrupters. Our sentences are rich in meaning and full of a wide range of word groupings. Aside comments, explanations, dates and numbers. Parentheses are used in pairs. Informally, they enclose a comment that goes off the central idea of the sentence. Formally, they enclose explanations, dates and numbers. A dash is a long horizontal mark twice the length of a hyphen. On most typewriters and computers dashes are represented by typing two hyphens. Dashes are emphatic. They are nearly like emphatic parentheses. To be effective, dashes, like exclamation points, should not be overused. Dashes indicate an abrupt change of thought. Sometimes they set off a clause or phrase for emphasis or dramatic effect. English novelist and essayist D.H. Lawrence believed that the parentheses are by far the most important part of a non-business letter (letter to Blanche May Rust Jennings, April 15, 1908). Punctuation Marks: Parentheses. Punctuation marks: parentheses. Parentheses are among the most useful and versatile punctuation marks in the English language. They can be used effectively in both formal and casual writing, and the rules surrounding parentheses allow writers to use them for a variety of purposes. Editors have their own reasons for discouraging the use (or at least the overuse) of parentheses. [T]hey are distracting and should be avoided when possible, says Rene Cappon in The Associated Press Guide to Punctuation (2003). Commas and dashes can also do the job of parentheses, often more effectively.. Parenthetical Habits: On the use and overuse of parentheses and brackets. In 1680, an anonymous “well-wisher to the attainments of children” wrote A Treatise of Stops, Points, or Pauses. At only 19 pages, this punctuation guide is a slight affair. We’ve come a long way, no doubt. Writers have three choices of punctuation to set off sentence interrupters—commas, parentheses, and em dashes. When interrupters fall midsentence, always use a pair of punctuation marks to surround them. And be careful to not mix different punctuation marks. Parentheses (often overused) enclose explanations or clarification. Parentheses (a set of curved brackets) enclose explanations or clarification. A series (words, phrases, or expressions) can be set off from the sentence with parentheses.
Yes, parentheses are overused.