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On Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 7:58 AM, Peter Humphrey <peter@××××××××××××××.org>wrote: |
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|
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> On Friday 20 August 2010 14:20:35 Bill Longman wrote: |
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> > On 08/19/2010 04:38 PM, Peter Humphrey wrote: |
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> > > On Thursday 19 August 2010 21:21:20 Kevin O'Gorman wrote: |
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> > >> So I looked up "auto-hinter" in the flagedit(1) program. It says: |
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> > >> auto-hinter: Local Flag: Use the unpatented auto-hinter instead |
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> > >> of the (recommended) TrueType bytecode interpreter (media- |
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> > >> libs/freetype) |
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> > >> |
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> > >> The placement of the "(recommended)" is just a bit ambiguous. |
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> > > |
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> > > No, it isn't. You may be being confused by the unnecessary |
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> > > inclusion of brackets (parentheses if you're American); remove |
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> > > them and you see that the TrueType byte-code interpreter is |
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> > > recommended. Or, just consider the phrase "the recommended |
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> > > TrueType bytecode interpreter", with or without brackets. I can't |
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> > > see how that could be thought ambiguous. |
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> > |
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> > I have to agree it's ambiguous. You have to wonder why the |
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> > parenthetical "recommended" is offset if it's just part of the |
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> > sentence. If it were as you say, there would be no need to put them |
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> > there. As it is written it sounds like it's making an aside claiming |
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> > that one of them is recommended and, by its placement, it's hard to |
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> > discern its antecedent. |
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> |
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> Its placement puts it squarely with the noun phrase following it. To |
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> associate it with the preceding one instead would be perverse. (Just to |
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> continue flogging a dead horse...) :-) |
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> |
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> I agree though that the brackets are neither necessary nor helpful. |
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> |
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> |
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Interesting replies all, especially the OT ones about parentheses, about |
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which more later. |
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|
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For the me the confusion arises because I've become used to seeing |
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"(recommended)" coming just after the item being described as such. So I |
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would see options a, b (recommended), or c. This was my reason for making |
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the guess I did, although the rest of the punctuation was less clear than my |
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example, thus the ambiguity. As was pointed out, it also struck me that if |
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"recommended" was intended to apply to the second option, the () thingies |
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were better omitted. |
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|
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<OT> |
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As to the thingies, I enjoyed discovering that to many people a parenthesis |
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is not a glyph or punctuation mark, but instead the contents of the language |
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set aside in one way or another. I had always regarded parentheses as the |
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round glyphs (), but this turns out to be normative primarily in |
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mathematics, computer programming languages and similar fields. But I find |
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several competing meanings and sources using |
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http://dictionary.reference.com/cite.html?qh=parenthesis&ia=luna |
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================================================================================================== |
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pa·ren·the·sis [image: parenthesis |
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pronunciation]<http://dictionary.reference.com/audio.html/lunaWAV/P01/P0114800> |
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/pəˈrɛnθəsɪs/ <http://dictionary.reference.com/help/luna/IPA_pron_key.html> |
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Show |
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Spelled[puh-ren-thuh-sis] |
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<http://dictionary.reference.com/help/luna/Spell_pron_key.html> Show IPA |
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–noun, plural -ses [image: parenthesis |
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pronunciation]<http://dictionary.reference.com/audio.html/lunaWAV/P01/P0114900> |
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/-ˌsiz/ <http://dictionary.reference.com/help/luna/IPA_pron_key.html> Show |
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Spelled[-seez] |
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<http://dictionary.reference.com/help/luna/Spell_pron_key.html> Show IPA. |
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1. |
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either or both of a pair of signs ( ) used in writing to mark off an |
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interjected explanatory or qualifying remark, to indicate separate groupings |
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of symbols in mathematics<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mathematics> |
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and symbolic logic, etc. |
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2. |
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Usually, parentheses. the material contained within these marks. |
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3. |
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Grammar . a qualifying, explanatory, or appositive word, phrase, clause, or |
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sentence that interrupts a syntactic construction without otherwise |
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affecting it, having often a characteristic intonation and indicated in |
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writing by commas, parentheses, or dashes, as in William Smith—you must know |
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him—is coming tonight. |
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4. |
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an interval. |
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|
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Dictionary.com, "parenthesis," in *Dictionary.com Unabridged*. Source |
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location: Random House, Inc. |
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http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/parenthesis. Available: |
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http://dictionary.reference.com. Accessed: August 20, 2010. |
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------------------------------ |
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*Origin: * |
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1560–70; < LL < Gk parénthesis a putting in beside. See |
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par-<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/par->, |
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en- <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/en->2 , |
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thesis<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/thesis> |
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Dictionary.com Unabridged |
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010. |
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|
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|
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================================================================================================= |
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also this: |
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*parenthesis * (pəˈrɛnθɪsɪs) [image: [Click for IPA pronunciation |
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guide]]<http://dictionary.reference.com/help/luna/IPA_pron_key.html> |
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— *n * , *pl * *-ses * 1. a phrase, often explanatory or qualifying, |
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inserted into a passage with which it is not grammatically connected, and |
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marked off by brackets, dashes, etc 2. Also called: *bracket * either of a |
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pair of characters, (), used to enclose such a phrase or as a sign of |
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aggregation in mathematical or logical expressions 3. an intervening |
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occurrence; interlude; interval 4. *in parenthesis * inserted as a |
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parenthesis [C16: via Late Latin from Greek: something placed in besides, |
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from *parentithenai, * from para- 1 + en- ² + *tithenai * to put] |
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Dictionary.com, |
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"parenthesis," in *Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th |
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Edition*. Source location: HarperCollins Publishers. |
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http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/parenthesis. Available: |
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http://dictionary.reference.com. Accessed: August 20, 2010. |
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================================================================================================= |
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And, finally |
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|
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Word Origin & History |
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|
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parenthesis |
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1550, "words, clauses, etc. inserted into a sentence," from M.Fr. |
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parenthèse, from L.L. parenthesis "addition of a letter to a syllable in a |
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word," from Gk. parenthesis, lit. "a putting in beside," from parentithenai |
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"put in beside," from para- "beside" + en- "in" + tithenai "put, place," |
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from PIE base *dhe- "to put, to do" (see |
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factitious<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/factitious>). |
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Extension of the word to the curved brackets that indicate the words |
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inserted is from 1715. |
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|
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Dictionary.com, "parenthesis," in *Online Etymology Dictionary*. Source |
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location: Douglas Harper, Historian. |
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http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/parenthesis. Available: |
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http://dictionary.reference.com. Accessed: August 20, 2010. |
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|
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</OT> |
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-- |
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Kevin O'Gorman, PhD |