What do parenthesis mean in a qotation? Usually in newspapers et al...?

Question

Example:

"You have no idea how (messed) up this is getting," said Morris

"I think it's possible to come up with something, but it's not going to happen until the last minute in the (legislative) session," Hooser said.

The second example seems obvious that the writer is clarifying what the speaker is saying but in many examples the speakers sentance would be incomplete or make no sense without the parenthesiesed word. So what is the deal?

Answer 1

That's the point of them. To insert words that the speaker may have left out when they were talking and to draw attention to the fact that the speaker did not actually say the words in parenthesis.

Ex:
If you interview Bob about his cow and ask "Bob, what kind of milk does your cow produce?" and Bob answers "My cow makes white," that particular quote might not fit exactly how you need it to fit (for flow and logic reasons) into the article. In print, that quote may appear as "My cow makes white (milk)," Bob said.

Sometimes, as in the first example you provided, it could signify an explitive that was deleted. I'm sure you could come up with a few words that would fit where (messed) is that might not be fit for print. That, however, depends on the general policy of the newspaper/magazine/whever you found it. Some print it no matter what it says, some replace it with "nicer" words, and some will just paraphrase a quote instead of using a direct quote.

Answer 2

That's the editor's voice coming through.
In your first example, it's more than likely that Morris used a slightly stronger expletive than 'messed up' in his comment. The editor has Bowderlized it. That's a four-bit word that means cleaned it up.
In the second example, the writer/editor/proof reader could have been explaining just which session Hooser was talking about.
At least, that's the usual role of the parenthesized word in quotes or elsewhere in newspaper copy.

Answer 3

I usually assume that they are taking an important fragment away from a particular set of comments. Or in the first example, the speaker may have used profanity and the writer chose to simplify it.

Answer 4

paranthesis are to clarify things such as in the session, in the legislative session is clearer than in the session. when an interview, some people may not say legislative as in the second example. when they do not say it, the reader has no idea what, which session they are talking about. in order to clarify the session even though the interviewee did not say it, the journalist puts a clarifying word in parantheses...hope that helps

Answer 5

the part in parenthesis is not part of the direct quote. The parentheses indicate that the writer inserted that part, either to cover up what was probably a curse word (in the first example), or to make it clear to the reader what is being talked about.

Answer 6

i think it means that speakers says the sentence without the parenthesis, but it would make more sense to the reader if the particular word was in there.

Answer 7

the speaker has left out a word that was intended.

Answer 8

thanks for 2 point