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Today's topic is ellipsis.

 Too many people to name have written in asking me about ellipses--those little dot-dot-dots that you see a lot in e-mail messages. Here's an example:

Mitra from Michigan asked, “When is it appropriate to use '...' in writing? People use it all the time, and it seems like a way to make your writing more informal and conversational, as if you were pausing. Can you also use [the dot-dot-dot] for formal writing?”

The answer is that you can use ellipses in formal writing in other ways, and you can use them as Mitra  described in his e-mail, but you shouldn't overdo it.

The Omission Ellipsis

The most common and formal use of ellipses is to indicate an omission. If you're quoting someone and you want to shorten the quote, you use ellipses to show where you've dropped words or sentences.

Here's a quote from the book Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens: “I cannot help it; reason has nothing to do with it; I love her against reason.”

Now far be it from me to edit Dickens, but if I were a journalist under a tight word limit looking at that quote, I'd be tempted to shorten it to this: “I cannot help it . . . I love her against reason.” That middle part—“reason has nothing to do with it”—seems redundant, and taking it out doesn't change the meaning. Dot-dot-dot and it's gone, which saves me seven words. Clearly, literature and journalism are not the same thing.

Integrity is essential when using ellipses in this way. It's fine to use an ellipsis to tighten up a long quote by omitting unnecessary words, but it's important that you don't change the meaning. It's wrong to omit words to misrepresent what someone has said. For example, here's a quote I grabbed from a Bloomberg story about the movie sequels Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider-Man 3, and Shrek the Third.

“You're certainly seeing these three sequels opening big and then dropping big,'' Pandya said. ``The movies are not as good as the previous ones, so people are not liking them as much, and then there's the competition.''

Apparently, Pandya doesn't think the movies are doing very well, but it would be easy to use ellipses and omissions to make the quote sound as if he loved these movies. Here's the revised quote:

“You're certainly seeing these three sequels opening big,'' Pandya said. ``The movies are . . .  good . . . people are . . . liking them.''

(I paused where I put in an ellipsis.) See? Chop off the qualifier at the end of the first sentence about sales dropping after the first week, use ellipses to turn “not good” into “good,” and you've got a completely different quote. Of course, that is an obvious and egregious example; you would never do that, but be careful not to introduce more subtle changes in meaning when you use ellipses (and when you are editing quotes in general).

The E-mail Ellipsis

Now, on to the other use of ellipses--the use that you frequently see in e-mail where the ellipsis is used to indicate a pause or a break in the writer's train of thought. I read a lot of complaints in e-mail groups and a lot of speculation about what these ellipses mean. However, speculation isn't necessary because a number of style guides note that ellipses can be used to indicate a pause or falter in dialog, the passage of time, an unfinished list, or that a speaker has trailed off in the middle of a sentence or left something unsaid (1, 2, 3, 4). For example, The Chicago Manual of Style states, “Ellipsis points suggest faltering or fragmented speech accompanied by confusion, insecurity, distress, or uncertainty.” The manual contrasts ellipses and dashes, which it states should be reserved for more confident and decisive pauses.

So, it is allowable to use ellipses to indicate pauses or breaks in the writer's train of thought as you see so frequently done in e-mail, especially where a break is meant to feel uncertain. Nevertheless (and this is a BIG nevertheless) most people who use ellipses in e-mail overdo it—a lot.

You should not replace all normal punctuation with ellipses. You should not allow the sweet lure of ellipses to muddle your ability to write a complete sentence. To quote the book Grammar for Dummies, “Using ellipses in this way can get annoying really fast.” As regular listeners will know, I like the book Punctuate it Right, and the author has this to say about writers who use ellipses to imply that they have more to say: “It is doubtful that they have anything in mind, and the device seems a rather cheap one.” So, use ellipses in these ways if you must, but use them sparingly, and know that although it's grammatically correct, it's considered by some to be annoying and cheap.

Finally, there are some other special circumstances where ellipses seem to be allowed.

The Comic Strip Ellipsis

I wouldn't consider this formal writing, but comic strip writers have been known to use ellipses instead of periods. I'm speculating here, but it seems as if the ellipses are being used as a way to draw you into the next frame—as if they are saying, “Keep going; there's more to come.” For example, Charles Schulz always used ellipses instead of periods at the end of sentences in Peanuts.

The Gossip and Show Business Column Ellipsis

Next, I was surprised to see that The Associated Press Stylebook allows the use of ellipses for what they call “special effects”: The stylebook states, “Ellipses also may be used to separate individual items within a paragraph of show business gossip or similar material.”

Some famous newspaper writers have used ellipses instead of periods to separate their rambling thoughts. Larry King heartily used ellipses in his USA Today column, as did Herb Caen in his San Francisco Chronicle column. In fact, Herb Caen is reported to have coined the phrase “three-dot journalism” to describe such writing, and he was so beloved in San Francisco that when he died the city named a street after him—and included an ellipsis in the name: Herb Caen Way . . . (5). There's a picture of the sign at the Grammar Girl web site.

I found myself wondering which came first, the columnists using ellipses or the AP rule allowing the style. I haven't found the answer, but I suspect the rule is a response to the columnists--essentially AP saying, “Fine, do it your way, but only in gossip or show business columns.” I hope some journalism professor or AP editor out there will know the answer. If so, please post a comment on the blog.

Formatting Ellipses

So, now that you know how to use ellipses, you need to know how to make them. An ellipsis consists of exactly three dots called ellipsis points—never two dots, never four dots—just three dots.

Most style guides call for a space between the dots. Typesetters and page designers use something called a thin space or a non-breaking space that prevents the ellipsis points from getting spread over two lines in a document (6). Also, many fonts have an ellipsis symbol that you can insert, but for everyday purposes, it's fine to use regular spaces between the ellipsis points. Type period-space-period-space-period (7).

Also, there should always be a space on each side of an ellipsis. the ellipsis is usually standing in for a word or sentence, so just imagine that it's a word itself, and then it's easy to remember to put a space on each side.

If you're omitting something that comes after a complete sentence, meaning that your ellipsis has to follow a period, put the period at the end of the sentence just like you normally would, then type a space, and then type or insert your ellipsis. Again, you're treating the ellipsis as if it were a word. This will result in four dots in a row with spaces in between each dot, but this is not a four-dot ellipsis—there's no such thing. It is a period followed by a regular three-dot ellipsis.

Oddly, you don't treat an ellipsis as a word if it comes at the end of a sentence that requires terminal punctuation like a period, question mark, or exclamation point. In that case you still put a space on each side of the ellipsis (8).  For example, if your original sentence is “Aardvark is coming home on Thursday!” and you wanted to make it shorter, you would write it like this: “Aardvark is coming home . . . !”

Fortunately, most style guides don't call for an ellipsis when you omit something at the end of a quote, so you don't have to deal with it too often. (Putting an ellipsis at the beginning of a quote is also usually not necessary, but again it is a matter of style.)

That's all.

Today's Grammar Girl book giveaway winners get a copy of a book called The Intellectual Devotional. The book is modeled on religious devotionals and provides a daily bit of information about topics like art, literature, and science. I keep it by my bed and try to read a page each day. The author was very generous, so there are six signed copies to give away. I'll be e-mailing the winners. Congratulations.

My e-mail address is feedback@quickanddirtytips.com, and my voice-mail line is 206-338-GIRL. Thanks for listening.

References

1. Shaw, H. Punctuate It Right. New York: Harper Paperbacks, 1993, p. 105.
2. The Chicago Manual of Style. Fourteenth Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993, p. 368.
3. Goldstein, N. ed. The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual. Reading: Perseus Books, 1998, p. 272.
4. Woods, G. English Grammar for Dummies. Hoboken: Wiley Publishing, 2001, p. 331.
5. Ellar, J. “Herb Caen Gets His Way.” SFGate.com. June 14, 1996.  (accessed May 26, 2007).
6. Walsh, B. Lapsing Into a Comma. Chicago: Contemporary Books., 2004, p. 82.
7. Straus, J. The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation. Ninth Edition. Mill Valley: Jane Straus, 2006, p. 31.
8. Lutz, G. and  Stevenson, D. Grammar Desk Reference. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 2005, p. 268.

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