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Q&A Do parentheses inhibit clarity?

I like what Theodore Bernstein says in "The Careful Writer" (original copyright 1965): There is some evidence that the use of parentheses has become more common in modern writing, particularly ...

posted 12y ago by JLG‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T02:22:16Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/5656
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar JLG‭ · 2019-12-08T02:22:16Z (almost 5 years ago)
I like what Theodore Bernstein says in "The Careful Writer" (original copyright 1965):

> There is some evidence that the use of parentheses has become more common in modern writing, particularly in critical and expository writing. Parentheses seem almost to have become a mark of "sophisticated," knowing style. They do have their uses in simplifying sentences that otherwise would be encumbered with ponderous subordinate and coordinate clauses and in permitting the use of pointed asides that might otherwise seem overemphatic. But, like every other stylistic device, they can be overdone.

Also, you should be able to lift out what is inside a set of parentheses and still have a grammatical, understandable sentence left behind. I personally think they are overused.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2012-05-12T03:49:06Z (over 12 years ago)
Original score: 4