This could be an interesting error

Steven D'Aprano steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info
Sun Aug 31 22:53:52 EDT 2014


Mark Lawrence wrote:

>>>>>>        return (pigword)
>>> These            ^       ^
>>
>> Those are parenthesis :P
>> But not having to use them is a time saver.
>> Thanks
>>
> 
> No they are round brackets, as opposed to square or curly.

True, they are round brackets, but the word "parentheses" is actually older.

According to the Oxford dictionary, the word "parentheses" dates from the
middle of the 16th century, although the use of it to refer specifically to
the ( and ) symbols is only from the early 20th century. "Bracket" is about
a hundred years later, the middle of the 17th century, and didn't start to
be used for the ( ) symbols themselves until the middle of the 18th.


-- 
Steven




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