# Use of \[\], rather than () **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865 "2003-04-02T02:50:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/1 "2003-04-02T02:50:29Z")
How, in usage, are and () different? ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/2 "2003-04-02T02:54:57Z")
In usage of what? Should this be in another forum? ---
**Author:** ![WillGolfForFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@WillGolfForFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillGolfForFood)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/3 "2003-04-02T02:57:13Z")
Well, in C and C++, square brackets are used in arrays but parentheses are used in function calls. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/4 "2003-04-02T03:03:41Z")
The square brackets are useful for inserting explanatory words into a direct quote. For example: The newspaper stated, “The suspect [Mr. Jones] was arraigned on Tuesday.” ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/5 "2003-04-02T03:09:40Z")
Some styles also use the bracket as a second-order parenthesis (that is, a parenthesis within a parenthesis [if you know what I mean]). ---
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/6 "2003-04-02T03:25:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\*In usage of what? Should this be in another forum? \*\* What forum should it be in, then? :dubious: I’m talking about correct punctuation usage, such as if you were to use a . to end a sentence, or use a ! to show excitement. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/7 "2003-04-02T03:41:38Z")
Following up on what **nineiron** posted, a more general rule would be that you use parens to enclose an insertion you make into your own words and brackets to enclose an insertion into somebody else’s words. From the Chicago Manual of Style (13th edition): > [@](#): > > Parentheses, like commas and dashes, may be used to set off amplifying, explanatory, or digressive elements. ex: The final sample that we collected (under extremely difficult circumstances) contained an unexpected impurity. > > Brackets are used to enclose editorial interpolations, corrections, explanations, or comments in quoted material. ex: “Despite the damaging evidence that had been brought to light [by Simpson and his supporters], Fernandez contined to believe in his friend’s innocence.” There are many more specialized usages of each as well. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/8 "2003-04-02T05:50:58Z")
Square brackets, round brackets, curly brackets, angle brackets… a plethora of brackets! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/9 "2003-04-02T05:57:37Z")
You can also use brackets [] to enclose the Latin word _sic_ when quoting something accurately which just happens to have an error in it. By saying “sic” you are saying that you are quoting exactly, but that the error occurred in the original material and that it is not yours. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/10 "2003-04-02T06:12:46Z")
Square brackets are also used in an editorial context to clarify or correct: “…[S]he said that [the perpetrators] were convicted.” when the original quote read “she said that they were convicted.” ---
**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:** [April 2, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/11 "2003-04-02T07:51:47Z")
I tend to use parentheses for parenthetical remarks (I do this a lot), and square brackets to delimit a [discrete entity that is described by more than one word]. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/12 "2003-04-03T07:05:56Z")
I was just going over format today with students, and the newer textbooks now say that [] should be placed around ellipsis. Back in my day, we never used brackets for that purpose. Any thoughts on this? ---
**Author:** ![Fernmeldetruppe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Fernmeldetruppe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fernmeldetruppe)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/13 "2003-04-03T11:23:32Z")
When doing calculations, one often uses brackets to enclose the units (for clarity). e.g. 3\*10^8 [m/s] ---------------------- = f [Hz] .5 [m] ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/14 "2003-04-05T04:13:59Z")
Brackets around elipsis? Never heard of it[…] Sounds weird[…] Brackets for editorializing [nobody here is going to know what that means] even if it’s your own words, i.e. to set aside notes to yourself that you know you will remove later. Apple ][ computers used square brackets in the wrong order to make a really cool Roman numeral two. Lots of computer languages use and () and {} and even \<\> as delimiters, grouping means, to show functions, or to show array indices, or comments, etc etc. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/15 "2003-04-05T04:30:45Z")
You use brackets around an ellipsis when you’re editing an original quote: “Congress shall make no law […] abridging the freedom […] to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/16 "2003-04-05T05:40:26Z")
That just looks odd to me. I’d almost read that as if the author were stating that he was speechless over that line, as opposed to saying that he had removed a portion. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/17 "2003-04-05T07:49:02Z")
I seem to remember something from high school algebra… When dealing with sets, detotes a range of all values, inclusive, while ( ) denotes a range of all values EXclusive ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/18 "2003-04-05T15:42:39Z")
In fact, that’s about the only time you can open and close with different brackets. In all other cirumstances you have (…) or […] but you can write [0,1) to mean all numbers \>=0 and \<1. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/19 "2003-04-05T17:29:47Z")
What about in math when you have something like: 7[5(x + 2) + (9x^2 +7)] ? ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865/20 "2003-04-05T17:39:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shade \* > \*\*In fact, that’s about the only time you can open and close with different brackets. In all other cirumstances you have (…) or […] but you can write [0,1) to mean all numbers \>=0 and \<1. \*\* > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xvxdarkknightxvx \* > \*\*What about in math when you have something like: > > 7[5(x + 2) + (9x^2 +7)]\*\* **xvxdarkknightxvx** , your example still consists of two matched left-and-right pairs of parentheses, nested within a matching left-and-right pair of brackets. I think that **Shade** was referring to the unusual case where you can correctly use a left bracket or parenthesis without pairing it with a right, or vice versa, or without pairing it with another bracket or parenthesis at all. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-rather-than/165865.md?page=2)