>>-2**2
>>
>>what the answer... I lost my bet with my secondary schoolgirl daughter... :(
>
>There are some implied parenthesis in the expression and the result depends on where they are.
>
>Does the expression mean -(2**2) or (-2)**2?

Implied parenthesis? I didn't know there were any. I thought in the absence of parenthesis the rules of precedence and right or left associativity apply.