Is my punctuation correct?

[malekm]

I've got some sentences that confused me:

1- Prestige, call it status if you like, is in great demand these days.

2- An older law was operating at the box office: if you try to please everybody, you don't please any anybody.

3- Louise had then-she has it still- something near genius for making improbable persons, places, and sometimes sound attractive.

4- Dearest, his voice broke, he could speak no more.

 

[bhaisahab]

I've got some sentences that confused me:

1- Prestige, call it status if you like, is in great demand these days. OK with the commas.

2- An older law was operating at the box office: if you try to please everybody, you don't please any anybody. OK as it is punctuated.

3- Louise had then-she has it still- something near genius for making improbable persons, places, and sometimes sound attractive. OK, I would use parenthesis rather than dashes.

4- Dearest, his voice broke, he could speak no more. I would use a colon after "broke".

Bhai.

 

[Rover_KE]

4- Dearest, his voice broke, he could speak no more.

I would use a semicolon after broke.

Rover

 

[Rover_KE]

[STRIKE][/STRIKE]

. . .if you try to please everybody, you don't please [STRIKE]any[/STRIKE] anybody.

Rover

 

[birdeen's call]

OK, I would use parenthesis rather than dashes.

Bhaisahab, why is the singular form "parenthesis" correct here? Do we call the string "()" parentheses or parenthesis?