[docs] [issue32452] Brackets and Parentheses used in an ambiguous way

[Steven D'Aprano]

Steven D'Aprano <steve+python at pearwood.info> added the comment:

In British, Australian, New Zealander, and Indian English (and sometimes Canada), at least, "bracket" on its own typically means round brackets () and is rarely if ever used for square brackets [] or curly brackets {} without the adjective.

See for example https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/168762/brackets-vs-parenthesis for a discussion.

Consequently, the phrase "parentheses instead of brackets" reads to us as "parentheses instead of parentheses" would to Americans. In other words, weird and requiring a moment (or three) of thought to translate.

I support the suggested change to "parentheses instead of square brackets" -- it should read more naturally to people in the British Commonwealth and (I hope) shouldn't look too strange to Americans.

My personal preference would be for "round brackets instead of square brackets", but I guess that will be a battle I have no hope of winning *wink*

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nosy: +steven.daprano

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<https://bugs.python.org/issue32452>
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