Parentheticality — my new favorite term, describing how (or how much) a statement is parenthetical in nature (and should therefore be placed in parentheses).

I like parentheses; i always have.

Douglas Adams used parentheses a lot. (And i closely read everything of his i could get my hands on, back in the day.)

Mark Twain despised the use of parentheses (and parenthetical content), preferring a simple and straightforward style; but i can live with that.

George Eliot used them occasionally, i was glad to discover as a newly converted English major in college; and it was her writing that cemented my decision to study the language.

How does one judge the parentheticality of a particular statement? It’s complicated, especially when trying to imbue humor or irony into a text. I guess a writer just develops a feel for it (or does not, as the case may be).

Sure, parentheticality is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek term, mocking academic jargon; but what good is writing without a little fun?

Punctuation has in general declined in use in the “Digital Age”, with the proliferation of emails, text messages, and social media posts. (Or at least that’s how it seems to me.) But that doesn’t worry me. I use punctuation (or not) as i feel like it; i’m happy enough with my writing.