Parens
I'm a little let down this morning. I learned somewhere in college (probably from a classmate) that the singular of parentheses was paren. Certainly a lot easier to say, anyway. But when I looked it up in the dictionary this morning…
pa·ren·the·sis |pəˈrɛnθɪsɪs|
noun ( pl. -ses |-siːz|)
…
- (usu. parentheses) one or both of a pair of marks ( ) used to include such a word, clause, or sentence.
The singular is parenthesis, and it all but condones using the plural for a single mark. But all is not lost!
paren |pəˈrɛn|
noun (usu. parens) Printing
a parenthesis.ORIGIN early 20th cent.: abbreviation of parenthesis.
I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of saying parentheses (we say that a lot in programming). I propose that we usher in the shift from parentheses to parens. In programming, at least, let's use the word paren for singular and parens for plural. Will you join me?
P.S. The British tend to call parens "brackets," which is short for "round brackets." I was teaching a class on C and had a British student, and I had her totally confused because to me "brackets" meant square brackets. When I said brackets (meaning square brackets) she thought parens. When she said brackets (meaning round brackets by default) I thought square brackets. When I said braces I meant curly braces (what other kind are there on the keyboard?), but to her braces was a synonym for brackets…