Brackets

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From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959
Perhaps nowhere have fans shown more varied ingenuity than in simulating brackets with only the resources of the typerkeyboard. Some, 'tis true, draw them in afterwards [like Swisher but most fans use the keys, which is more convenient. Tucker and others employ double parentheses a half space apart ((apart)), while Speer sometimes uses -(Gregg shorthand parentheses)-. Youd's /_brackets with underlining_/ made with the virgule have been the most popular, tho the underlining is frequently dispensed with -- or mutated; Mirta Forsto used tildes for underlining. Eney and some others use the /crossed slant-bar/ .

The purpose of brackets is to distinguish ordinary parentheses by the writer from editorial comments such as [nuts! -ed] inserted in the body of a letter or article. Ray Bradbury tried an unsuccessful mutation in simply making his comments ALL-CAP.

from Fancyclopedia 2 Supplement ca. 1960: I forgot to mention the commonest method of all: double parentheses a full space apart ( ( ) ). /That's one of the drawbacks of chasing the esoteric: I miss the blatantly obvious./ Some get so enamored of double parens that they use 'em even when not needed; Larry Stark was a conspicuous sinner.

Computers have rendered these typewriter makeshifts obsolete.



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