Saturday, August 9, 2008

My tattoo

I have an Ellipsis tattooed on my wrist, it is by far my favorite punctuation. I found this online and thought it was cool.

Dot Dot Dot: Using the Ellipsis Correctly
Posted by miss-write on
August 8, 2008

Certainly one of the most overused punctuation marks on the internet, a lot of bloggers and forum participants tend to use the ellipsis to show transition from one thought to another. Whereas the correct mark to use is the period or a comma, the punctuation mark of choice of most netizens is still the ellipsis. I must admit that there is a certain allure to the ellipsis. It exudes mystery and signals the unknown. The ellipsis is the harbinger of surprise — there is almost always something hidden from one’s view beyond those three dots.

Despite its ability to lure one to the dark side, one must remember that there are still specific and accepted ways of using the ellipsis. Like most punctuation marks, you can’t just bandy it about whenever the mood strikes.

More importantly, the ellipsis usually appears in two forms (though this is largely an illusion, as you will see later on): the one with three dots, and another with four dots. It may seem irrelevant, counting these dots, but trust me. This actually means something, and you don’t want to take any chances.

Here are some guidelines in using the ellipsis properly, after the jump:

1. Used to signify omission. When the ellipsis appears in a quotation, this means that the writer omitted a portion of the original text. Three dots (…) mean that the omission is within the sentence only. Four dots (….) indicate that the omission is between sentences. To be clear, this doesn’t mean the ellipsis actually has four dots; the additional dot is a period, and it is situation prior to the ellipsis. In short, the first dot is a period (marking the end of one sentence), followed by the ellipsis.

2. Used to indicate a pregnant pause. In literature, this often means that there is a specific reason tied to the plot whenever the ellipsis is used. It is contextual. Perhaps the speaker is attempting to conceal something from his listeners, or is unable to speak directly for some reason. In fiction, this often means that the character is intentionally mum on an important yet unrevealed matter. It can even signal hesitation on the speaker’s part.

3. Used to present an unfinished thought. This is related to number two. Often employed in literature, the character’s thoughts trail off and are marked with an ellipsis. Here the ellipsis is again combined with the period, resulting in four dots. If the thought trails off and there are no sentences following it, the result is an ellipsis followed by a period to indicate the end of the sentence.

(http://www.miss-write.com/2008/dot-dot-dot-using-the-ellipsis-correctly/)

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