# Does it annoy you when people don't close brackets **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2001, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731 "2001-07-25T12:35:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2001, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/1 "2001-07-25T12:35:47Z")
(like this for example And also, should people use nested brackets (for example if they have an aside (but not an important one)) If they use nested brackets, is it important that they close them all? ?? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2001, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/2 "2001-07-25T12:39:36Z")
I think what’s even \*\*more[b} important is that they preview their threads. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2001, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/3 "2001-07-25T12:49:47Z")
There is a thing you see - well, that I’ve seen - where you have whole paragraphs within parentheses. (When this happens, you start each paragraph with an opening parenthesis. (But the end of the paragraph does _not_ have a corresponding closing parenthesis. The same thing happens with inverted commas. (Only at the very end of your parenthetical expression does the closing parenthesis appear.) Phew. Apart from this, though, I’m a believer in closing all the brackets you open. Of course, I’m also a computer programmer, which may explain the habit. (And I believe in using different styles for nested brackets [like this].) ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2001, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/4 "2001-07-25T12:56:53Z")
I’m ashamed to say it actually _does_ drive me insane. I need closure dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2001, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/5 "2001-07-25T13:00:30Z")
) ) ) Hope that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2001, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/6 "2001-07-25T13:39:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Steve Wright \* > \*\*) > ) > ) > > Hope that helps. \*\* Steve Wright in the Afternoon? I don’t believe it! (sorry) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2001, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/7 "2001-07-25T13:57:47Z")
(I’m only asking because I’m conscious that I often forget to close brackets (Though thankfully not when I’m programming. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2001, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/8 "2001-07-25T14:41:05Z")
I use nested parentheses (like this (and this)) all the time. It drives ME nuts when **I** don’t close them, but I make allowances for others because, unlike me, they’re not infallible. 😃 One huge pain in the ass is parentheses with a smilie inside…because you have to remember which type of smilie you can do with whatever software you’re using. If I have a smilie in parentheses, I always close the brackets afterward, like this: (Here’s a smilie face for you :)) This comes across as odd-looking in text-only media, lemme tell you. “Why does your smilie have a double-chin?” “It’s been eating too much Ben & Jerry’s, okay?” ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2001, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/9 "2001-07-25T18:15:32Z")
Yes, it does. But I’m a stickler for grammar/spelling/etc. On a related note: does that last sentence need another period? ---
**Author:** ![Reuben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@Reuben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reuben)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/10 "2001-07-26T12:37:38Z")
YES! God, I thought I was the only one out there… ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/11 "2001-07-26T12:43:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Steve Wright \* > \*\*(Only at the very end of your parenthetical expression does the closing parenthesis appear.) Phew. > > \*\* I would just like to say that ‘parenthetical’ is a really cool word. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/12 "2001-07-26T12:56:05Z")
I know that I am quite often guilty of this. I preview, really I do. I don’t always see that one though. Offering appologies in advance, and borrowing a bunch of ))))))'s from **Steve** ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/13 "2001-07-26T13:33:26Z")
I plead “No contest.” I try to alternate among the parentheses ( ), the brackets/braces { }, and the squared-off brackets thingies , so I can keep better track of my inner thoughts. What are those squared-off brackets thingies called anyway? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![TheNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TheNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheNerd)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/14 "2001-07-26T14:23:20Z")
These () are parends. These {} are (curly)braces. These are brackets. At least, that’s how I think of them. For parenthetical expressions, they’re pretty much interchangeable, but I tend to use them in ways that approximate their common meanings in programming languages. () for optional or additional comments. {} to denote beginning and end of one coherent thought. to denote specificity. But that’s just me. When writing, my parends must be matched. Nested parentheticals are just fine, and often useful. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/15 "2001-07-26T14:37:16Z")
**Nerd:** That’s because you’re programming in C (or Java maybe); if it was Pascal, you’d use curly braces {} for optional comments and ordinary parentheses () to enlcose a single coherent thought or expression. I don’t have many coherent thoughts, so I can do as I please. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/16 "2001-07-26T15:50:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\* > I would just like to say that ‘parenthetical’ is a really cool word. \*\* I like words. I often fall back on the wisdom of Robertson Davies, in _The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks_: “Let my prose be rebarbative and tenebrous; let my pennyworth of thought be muffled in gorgeous habilments; lovers of Basic Englsh shall look to me in vain.” **Mangetout** , you should try LISP. _That_ will cure you of any bad bracketing habits… along with any remaining capacity for coherent thought. ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-dont-close-brackets/73731/17 "2001-07-26T23:40:58Z")
So I am a repeat offender, so what. Considering the fact that I absolutely love the vB codes, and manage to use them at least twice in _ **every post** _, I am bound to error at least a minor % of the time. Unless you have never doofed(rhymes with spoofe, sorry 😃 ) up a vB code, shut up and wait, _you will_. Consider me the Evil Knievil of vB Codes.