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SEARCH MY WASHINGTON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA WEBSITES
History of and Other Families (o_f) from
The City and County of Washington Pennsylvania
Enhance your genealogy research about families in Little Washington, Washington County PA
using newspaper articles, birth, death, marriage, notices, obituaries (often with cemeteries
named), probates, deeds, surname finds, family trees, family histories, reunions and other information.
Site Search or Page Search (Ctl Key+F) easily finds items of interest.
Washington County Pennsylvania History and Families
Genealogy 101:
What are Round Brackets ! Parentheses !
Brackets ! Square Brackets or Box Brackets! Braces !
Brackets ! Angle Brackets ! Chevrons !
Curly Brackets ! Squiggly Brackets ! Flower Brackets ! Braces !
(
) or [ ] or < >
or ⟨ ⟩ or { }
With all
these different names, no wonder that most of us are confused about these sets
of characters and their proper uses! From the Latin etymology, "breeches",
these symbols vary depending on the country you're in, the particular need of
use, and how well you paid attention in Grammar / English classes. Luckily,
most American writing --including writing in genealogy-- only needs the square
brackets. But first, let's look at the different "brackets" and
their uses. There are four main types of
brackets, used in pairs (Information from wikipeda which I compiled into a
chart):
| Names |
Symbols |
Additional information |
| brackets: round brackets, oval brackets, open brackets or
parentheses |
( ) |
parentheses (chiefly American)
round brackets (chiefly British) |
| brackets: square brackets, closed brackets or box brackets |
[ ] |
chiefly British, but Americans use for specific situations |
| brackets: curly brackets, squiggly brackets, "swirl-y" brackets,
brace or braces, flower brackets |
{ } |
Americans: curly brackets, squiggly brackets
British: brace, braces
{ } flower brackets, in prose |
| angle brackets, diamond brackets, cone brackets, wickets,
chevrons |
< > or
⟨ ⟩ |
Chevrons: ⟨ ⟩
used in Chinese language. And as code created by some computer
programs, such as Word |
Most are used as plural (in pairs), but some can be used as singular (just
one side) in certain circumstances. An example of singular is the
use of "angle brackets to indicate a "path" or
"direction" online for pages or content. These have a space
before and after the symbol, such as:
Math > Algebra > Linear Numbers
Forums > Family > Relationships > Gay relationships > Jealousy
> The chart on the next page shows the specific uses of each set of brackets for
specific fields, such as mathematics or computing. On this page, we'll cover
how writers use different types
of "brackets".
| Area / Field |
Type of bracket |
Is used ... |
| |
|
|
| Other Uses |
|
...to see how other fields use brackets, please go to page 2
of this section. |
| |
|
|
| All writers, General Writing, per the Grammar Rules |
Box brackets or square brackets [ ] |
...to enclose explanatory or missing material added by someone other than the original author, especially in quoted
text. Example: "She gave me one [a kiss] that made me
blush" if quoted, say from a book about kissing. Can be used
for known initials, "The V.F.W. Post 333 [Veterans of Foreign Wars]
supported the recent war," but are mostly used to explain unknown
or possibly confusing text, such as "The A.M.A. [American Marketing
Association] has had no comment about the proposed health care
plan." |
| |
[sic]
"sic" is from Latin, and translates to "thus," "so," or "just as that."
Writers often remember [sic] best as "as it was in the
original writing".
[sic] is not an abbreviation; thus, no period.
|
...to indicate errors that are “thus in the original”
When quoting text with a spelling or grammar error, transcribe the error exactly
as written, but insert [sic] in italics
directly after the mistake, and enclose it in brackets. This shows the mistake
is not yours but that you reproduced exactly what you found. The
boy's [sic] said the baseball wasn't theres [sic]. [sic] goes
before the punctuation used. "Sally, Johns girlfrend [sic],
was caught cheeting [sic]. The punctuation always goes outside the
right-bracket. |
|
[sic=the corrected word]
Note: Not true in grammatical rules.
|
...to place the corrected word after the
error. For personal and non-school writing, it may
be easier to
include the correction after "sic", especially if the error may not be easy to
detect. For example, if most readers will not recognize the
spelling error "Doctors often recommend acetimanophen [sic=acetaminophen].
Or, "The family lived in Amvile [sic=Amwell] Townhip, Washington
Co. PA." While this does make it easier for readers who might be guessing
about the correct word or what is the exact error, this is not correct
for grammar. It should not be used for term papers, school
assignments, etc. Also, writers online often omit the italics, but again, this is not technically the
proper method for how to write [sic]. |
|
[...] a bracketed ellipsis
Note: ellipsis is three dots
|
...to indicate part of a sentence or paragraph that
was deleted without affecting the meaning; deleting parts may make the
point stronger. Original sentence: "The researchers concluded
that based on a number of factors that make men different from women
that men may be reluctant to visit a doctor." Altered
version: "The researchers concluded that based on a number of
factors that [...] men may be reluctant to visit a doctor." |
| |
[ ] as bracketed comments |
...to indicate when original text has been modified for clarity: “I’d like to thank
[long list of co-workers] and my grands [sic] for their love, and
life-long support.” |
| |
[emphasis added] At the end, a
statement should say WHO added the emphasis. |
...to indicate that bold or italics has been
added to a word or phrase
within the original text. "Washington County, PA may be considered
as the original 'Gateway to the West', preceding St. Louis, MO. [emphasis
added by this webmaster]" |
|
[ ]
|
...to insert explanatory information
If the explanatory section is mid-sentence, it may need no extra
punctuation, or it may need a comma AFTER the bracketed material IF part
of a clause. "When the sun rises [generally around 7AM Eastern
Standard Time], residents nearby can hear school buses arriving
with students to unload."
If the explanatory section is at the end of the sentence, the period
is moved to AFTER the end of the closing bracket. "The pianist played Lohengrin's
[ "Wedding March" is used interchangeably for the "Bridal Chorus" from Richard Wagner's opera
Lohengrin]. |
| |
|
|
| All writers, General Writing, per the Grammar Rules |
( ) Parentheses, sometimes called round brackets, curved brackets, oval brackets, or just
brackets; colloquially, parens |
...to enclose words that could be omitted without destroying or
altering the meaning of a sentence. "College students
(especially students with families) struggle to pay for books and other
required supplies." |
| |
( ) |
...to enclose words that add supplementary information, “Sen.
John McCain (R., Arizona) spoke at the luncheon.” |
| |
( )
But not { }
|
...to enclose words that could be added without destroying or
changing the meaning of a sentence.
Often used by one writer quoting another writer, to clarify or
expound a point. Example: "Kate Jackson visited the Three Rivers Arts Festival
in Pittsburgh, Pa." Another writer quoting the first might
add this to clarify the meaning: "Kate Jackson (of
"Charlie's Angels" fame) visited the Three Rivers Arts
Festival in Pittsburgh, Pa." Usually, parentheses can be replaced by commas without
changing the meaning. Example: Sally and Jane (half-sisters) had the
same father. |
| |
AVOID: Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary. |
...to indicate that you [not Shakespeare, for example] are giving people [but not illiterate people] information so that they [the readers] know about whom you are speaking [writing]. Do not use brackets [excessively] when making these references [to other authors].
(Also avoid (as in the last rule) overuse of parentheses [or brackets {or braces <or other symbols for parenthetical thoughts>.}]).
Quoted
from extremelysmart.com |
| |
( ) |
As shorthand for “singular OR plural” for nouns — e.g., “the
claim(s)", "the page(s)". |
| |
( ) |
...to set off one word, for emphasis, with the
punctuation after the quote mark. The toilet didn't work
"properly". |
| |
( ) |
...to insert a definition. Think (a verb indicating the use of one’s mind)
vs. feel (a verb indicating the lack of use of one’s mind or the use of sensory perception or the nonintellectual exercise of emotion). |
|
( ) |
...to cite references by number at the end of sentences surrounded by parentheses
[not brackets], example (14). The period goes after the closing parentheses.
The references are numbered in a list as footnotes or at the end of a
paper or article. |
|
|
...to indicate doses or measurements so that a sentence doesn't begin with a number.
The recipe calls for sugar (1 cup) but bakers can substitute a sugar
substitute. |
| |
|
|
| |
braces, squiggly brackets { } |
Used to contain “two or more lines of text or listed items to show that they are considered as a unit.”
"Doctors say that fruits {apples, oranges, pears, berries} are good
for nutrition." |
| |
|
|
| Technical writers |
squared off notations [ ] |
[ ] used for technical explanations. For example, yourDictionary.com uses them
around word definitions. |
| Proofreadng |
Various types of square brackets |
(called move-left symbols or move right symbols),
proofreaders add these to the sides of text to show where text should be
moved; see wikipedia |
| |
[ ] |
to denote parts of the text that need to be checked when preparing drafts prior to finalizing a
document |
| |
[ ] |
to denote points for review in legal drafts and the year in which a report was made for certain case law
decisions |
See
Sources for Genealogy 101:
Brackets ! Square Brackets or Box Brackets! Braces !
Brackets ! Angle Brackets ! Chevrons !
Round Brackets ! Parentheses !
Curly Brackets ! Squiggly Brackets ! Flower Brackets ! Braces
*
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