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Q&A Is it OK to use a single parenthesis after each number in a list?

Several times I've seen lists formatted like this: My parenthetical pet peeves: 1) Referring to a single parenthesis as "a parenthesee" or something similarly beastly. 2) Smiley faces prec...

3 answers  ·  posted 12y ago by Patrick Brinich-Langlois‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question formatting format
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T02:22:30Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/5680
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Patrick Brinich-Langlois‭ · 2019-12-08T02:22:30Z (almost 5 years ago)
Several times I've seen lists formatted like this:

> My parenthetical pet peeves:   
> 1) Referring to a single parenthesis as "a parenthesee" or something similarly beastly.  
> 2) Smiley faces preceding closing parentheses. (How do you handle them? :))  
> 3) Unmatched parentheses.

To me, it would make more sense to enclose the numbers in parentheses:

> My parenthetical pet peeves:   
> (1) Referring to a single parenthesis as "a parenthesee" or something similarly beastly.  
> (2) Smiley faces preceding closing parentheses. (How do you handle them? :))  
> (3) Unmatched parentheses.

Or to use periods:

> My parenthetical pet peeves:
> 
> 1. Referring to a single parenthesis as "a parenthesee" or something similarly beastly.  
> 2. Smiley faces preceding closing parentheses. (How do you handle them? :))  
> 3. Unmatched parentheses.

[I'm not the only one](http://xkcd.com/859/) who is unsettled by unmatched parentheses. Is there authoritative sanction or condemnation of this method of formatting list numerals?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2012-05-15T22:08:15Z (over 12 years ago)
Original score: 5