When to write the word “parenthetically”

Question

I understand that if you're speaking a phrase in which you would write parentheses, you can say the word parenthetically. But when should you write the word parenthetically?

I came across this sentence, starting off a paragraph in a scientific article:

Parenthetically, we note that subjects in all experimental conditions were unbiased …

This struck me as odd. If they're speaking parenthetically, shouldn't it be in parentheses? On the one hand, from a descriptive point of view, the usage of the word was not ambiguous – I know exactly what the author is trying to connote by using it. But from a prescriptive point of view, would this be considered proper grammar?

Answer 1

The use of parenthetically is not limited to the literal meaning of appearing between brackets. It can, as in your example, mean simply ‘as an aside’.

Answer 2

Don't confuse the punctuation marks routinely used to convey an idea with the idea itself, even when the punctuation marks have a same or similar name as the idea. It's quite reasonable to say, "Charles QUESTIONED the speaker's statement" without using a question mark (because I do not actually quote the question). "When I asked my children where they wanted to go for vacation, they EXCLAIMED that they wanted to go to Disney World." Etc.

Answer 3

In addition to its prescriptive purpose, parenthetically may also be used in a more abstract sense, by definition:

Set off within or as if within parentheses; qualifying or explanatory

It's worth noting that there is a difference between a parenthesis and parentheses, the former being a rhetoric device and the latter being punctuation. (Parentheses usually - but not always - enclose a parenthetical remark.)

Answer 4

It's a good word to use in speech, when you can't show actual parentheses. In the context you give, it's probably just a stylistic choice, if an ill-advised one. Parenthetically, I note that scientific papers are not always models of perfect grammar and word choice.