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A book containing a transcription of some historical conversation has someone by the name Fred asking a question:

Fred: "What is the recipe for Orange Julius?" [Whispers.]
George: "No, it is ..."

Does the bracketed [Whispers.] refer to some unknown words spoken following "What is the recipe for Orange Julius?", or does it mean that the phrase "What is the recipe for Orange Julius?" itself was whispered?

If the answer is the latter, would it be clearer to do this:

Fred: [Whispers:] "What is the recipe for Orange Julius?"

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Since George's line is not responsive to Fred's question, I'd guess that it's 1., with the inaudible lines understood to be to the effect of ("Is it X....?]. But it's impossible to be sure without more context, and may be impossible with it. If (as appears) this is a playscript, it's the sort of direction that gets amplified in rehearsal. – StoneyB Oct 25 '12 at 19:36
Cite the name of the book and if possible give a link to it. – jwpat7 Oct 25 '12 at 19:47
@jwpat7 Google Books can't find Fred's phrase [Fred? Really? In a historical conversation?], and a Google web search for it finds only this page. – Andrew Leach Oct 25 '12 at 21:11
Belongs on writersSE. Voting to close as off-topic. re Tags: It isn't about punctuation, word-order, or parentheses -- it's about writing conventions, how else is one to interpret?. – Kris Oct 26 '12 at 6:32

closed as not a real question by Kris, MετάEd, Zairja, waiwai933♦ Oct 27 '12 at 5:32

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

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If this is a transcript, then the notation [Whispers] could refer to an indistinct comment made by a third party in response to Fred's questions.

It is possible that someone overhearing the conversation was shocked that Fred did not know the recipe and commented upon that in a low voice.

A similar situation arises when debate in Parliament is reported verbatim and shouted comment from the other side of the chamber are recorded as "We are determined to reduce the deficit." [Interjections]

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