At 2022-07-23T07:37:42-0500, Dave Kemper wrote: > On 7/22/22, G. Branden Robinson <g.branden.robin...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I disagree with this, because I find it awkward to put one complete > > sentence as a parenthetical inside another. I believe a sentence should > > remain grammatical even if the parentheses are removed. > > As a middle-ground opinion from another punctuation tyrant, I'm > generally OK with a parenthetical full sentence in the MIDDLE of a > sentence (provided it scans smoothly, but that's a basic requirement > of all writing).
Yes, it can read (speak) like a dashed aside in that case, but in that event I'd personally go with em-dashes, 9 times out of 10, I think. [...] > Branden has already objected to such a construction on the grounds > that it fails to parse when the parentheses are removed. But saying a > sentence still needs to parse with arbitrary punctuation removed > strikes me as an absurdly high bar to clear: punctuation exists > precisely to affect the parsing of words. That's true, and I likely overstated my principle in haste. I can try to be a little more precise. I think the English rules about where independent clauses are required or forbidden are not susceptible to relaxation by punctuation. That's _still_ too general a claim, but it will take me some time to find a way to articulate it well. I haven't exhaustively searched the space of possible English sentences.[1] > And I can't see any reader getting tripped up by the construction > above. I take your point regarding the scope to which the parenthetical applies. > However, even Branden's more stringent requirement can be met by > turning the parenthetical sentence into a subordinate clause: > > They can be specified in any lettercase (unlike in AT&T tbl, which > accepted only options with all characters in the same lettercase) and > must be separated by commas, spaces, or tabs. > > It's a couple words longer, but in my opinion more clearly structured, > because the parenthetical appears immediately after the phrase it's > modifying. I have the following patch pending, and I'll be pushing very soon. I hope to hear back from Deri regarding my recent questions about URW font detection and foundry-management gymnastics. diff --git a/src/preproc/tbl/tbl.1.man b/src/preproc/tbl/tbl.1.man index e1bf59340..0455ea77b 100644 --- a/src/preproc/tbl/tbl.1.man +++ b/src/preproc/tbl/tbl.1.man @@ -189,17 +189,16 @@ token may specify region options, keywords that influence the interpretation or rendering of the region as a whole or all table entries within it indiscriminately. . -They can be specified in any lettercase and must be separated by commas, +They can be specified in any lettercase +(unlike AT&T +.IR tbl , \" AT&T +which accepted only options with all characters in the same case) +and must be separated by commas, spaces, or tabs. . -(AT&T -.I tbl \" AT&T -accepted only options with all characters in the same lettercase.) -. -Some of these options require a parenthesized argument; -those that do permit spaces and tabs between the option's name and the -opening parenthesis. +Those that require a parenthesized argument permit spaces and tabs +between the option's name and the opening parenthesis. . Options accumulate and cannot be unset within a region once declared; if an option that takes a parameter is repeated, Regards, Branden [1] If I did, I'd be here all week! Tip your server.
signature.asc
Description: PGP signature
