Re: OT Use of Ellipses (was Wikipedia entry on XyWrite)

["Patricia M. Godfrey" priscamg@xxxxxxxx]

Harry Binswanger wrote:
> Below is a good example of a modern trend I don't understand: why is it
> becoming more and more frequent that people use ellipses instead of
> periods?
>
> I find it quite annoying . . . meaning no disrespect!
> > I looked at Wikipedia entry ... (been a while) .... I tried to find an
> > estimate of number of current (2008) users

Good point, Harry. The legitimate uses of ellipses are as follows:
1. To indicate the omission of letters or words from quoted
material (which should otherwise always be reproduced _exactly_).
2. To indicate that the thought expressed in the sentence is
incomplete or the sentence otherwise broken off. For example, I
ended my sentence about Xy's "features found in no other app"
with an ellipsis, to indicate that there were many more that I
could not think of at the moment.
If one wishes to indicate a sudden break in thought or
sentence-structure (the technical term, if you want to impress
people, is anacoluthon), the em dash is the more appropriate mark.
As to why the proliferation of ellipses, one is tempted to
attribute it to the general ignorance of grammar, rhetoric, and
punctuation--which is not the fault of anyone under--what?
60?--since most of them were never even told there were such
disciplines.
Note that one set of three periods is an ellipsis; more than one
are ellipses. And if you're submitting copy for publication, you
should ask your contact whether the publisher wants three periods
or the ellipsis character (258 in Xy's Speedos set; 133 in ANSI).
Sometimes a fourth period is to be added to the ellipsis; the
rules governing when this should be done are given, with much
other useful information, in the_Chicago Manual of Style,_ 15th
ed., 11.51-71.

As usual, more than you wanted to know.

--
Patricia M. Godfrey
priscamg@xxxxxxxx