Plain English Part 113

War for defense--and was there ever a war that was not for defense?--was permitted by the International.

This sight--what a wonderful sight it was!--greeted our eyes with the dawn.

+534.+ The dash is also used to indicate the omission of a word, especially such words as _as_, _namely_, _viz._, etc. For example:

Society is divided into two cla.s.ses--the exploited and the exploiting cla.s.ses.

+535.+ After a quotation, use the dash before the name of the author.

For example:

Life only avails, not the having lived.--_Emerson_.

+536.+ The dash is used to mark the omission of letters or figures. For example:

It happened in the city of M--.

It was in the year 18--.

PARENTHESIS

+537.+ In our study of the comma and the dash we have found that parenthetical statements are set off from the rest of the sentence sometimes by a comma and sometimes by a dash. When the connection with the rest of the sentence is close, and yet the words are thrown in in a parenthetical way, commas are used to separate the parenthetical statement from the rest of the sentence.

+538.+ When the connection is not quite so close, the dash is used instead of the comma to indicate the fact that this statement is thrown in by way of explanation or additional statement. But when we use explanatory words or parenthetical statements that have little or no connection with the rest of the sentence, these phrases or clauses are separated from the rest of the sentences by the parenthesis.

+539.+ +GENERAL RULE:--Marks of parenthesis are used to set off expressions that have no vital connection with the rest of the sentence.+ For example:

Ignorance (and why should we hesitate to acknowledge it?) keeps us enslaved.

Education (and this is a point that needs continual emphasis) is the foundation of all progress.

THE PUNCTUATION OF THE PARENTHESIS

+540.+ If the parenthetical statement asks a question or voices an exclamation, it should be followed by the interrogation point or the exclamation point, within the parenthesis. For example:

We are all of us (who can deny it?) partial to our own failings.

The lecturer (and what a marvelous orator he is!) held the audience spellbound for hours.

OTHER USES OF THE PARENTHESIS

+541.+ An Interrogation Point is oftentimes placed within a parenthesis in the body of a sentence to express doubt or uncertainty as to the accuracy of our statement. For example:

In 1858 (?) this great movement was started.

John (?) Smith was the next witness.

+542.+ The parenthesis is used to include numerals or letters in the enumeration of particulars. For example:

Economics deals with (1) production, (2) distribution, (3) consumption.

There are three sub-heads; (a) grammar, (b) rhetoric, (c) composition.

+543.+ Marks of parenthesis are used to inclose an amount or number written in figures when it is also written in words, as:

We will need forty (40) machines in addition to those we now have.

Enclosed find Forty Dollars ($40.00) to apply on account.

THE BRACKET

+544.+ The bracket [] indicates that the word or words included in the bracket are not in the original discourse.

+545.+ The bracket is generally used by editors in supplying missing words, dates and the like, and for corrections, additions and explanations. For example:

This rule usually applies though there are some exceptions. [See Note 3, Rule 1, Page 67].

+546.+ All interpretations, notes, corrections and explanations, which introduce words or phrases not used by the author himself, should be enclosed in brackets.

+547.+ Brackets are also used for a parenthesis within a parenthesis. If we wish to introduce a parenthetical statement within a parenthetical statement this should be enclosed in a bracket. For example:

He admits that this fact (the same fact which the previous witness [Mr. James E. Smith] had denied) was only partially true.

QUOTATION MARKS

+548.+ Quotation marks are used to show that the words enclosed by them are the exact words of the writer or speaker.

+549.+ A direct quotation is always enclosed in quotation marks. For example:

He remarked, "I believe it to be true."

But an indirect quotation is not enclosed in quotation marks. For example:

He remarked that he believed it was true.

+550.+ When the name of an author is given at the close of a quotation it is not necessary to use the quotation marks. For example:

All courage comes from braving the unequal.--_Eugene F. Ware_.

When the name of the author precedes the quotation, the marks are used, as in the following:

It was Eugene F. Ware who said, "Men are not great except they do and dare."

+551.+ When we are referring to t.i.tles of books, magazines or newspapers, or words and phrases used in ill.u.s.tration, we enclose them in quotation marks, unless they are written in italics. For example:

"Whitman's Leaves of Gra.s.s" or _Whitman's Leaves of Gra.s.s_. "The New York Call" or _The New York Call_. The word "book" is a noun, or, The word _book_ is a noun.

THE QUOTATION WITHIN A QUOTATION

+552.+ When a quotation is contained within another, the included quotation should be enclosed by single quotation marks and the entire quotation enclosed by the usual marks. For example: