[bksvol-discuss] Re: Ellipses
- From: Emily Harrison <greeniebone@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 26 May 2010 19:50:13 -0500
Um, thanks? Like I said, it's just what I learned in school. I think we
can all appreciate that grammatical rules are fluid, and change over time,
over long distances, etc.
On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 7:29 PM, Chela Robles <cdrobles693@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> *Ellipsis* (plural *ellipses*; from the
> Greek<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language>:
> ἔλλειψις, *élleipsis*, "omission") is a mark or series of marks that
> usually indicate an intentional omission of a word in the original text. An
> ellipsis can also be used to indicate a pause in speech, an unfinished
> thought, or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence (
> aposiopesis <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aposiopesis>) (apostrophe and
> ellipsis mixed). When placed at the end of a sentence, the ellipsis can also
> inspire a feeling of melancholy longing. The ellipsis calls for a slight
> pause in speech.
>
> The most common form of an ellipsis is a row of three periods or full stops
> (...) or pre-composed triple-dot glyph (…). The usage of the em dash (—) can
> overlap the usage of ellipsis.
>
> The triple-dot punctuation mark is also called a *suspension point*, *points
> of ellipsis*, *periods of ellipsis*, or
> colloquially<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloquialism>,
> *dot-dot-dot*.In writing
>
> The way the ellipsis is supposed to be written in the US is "..." per Modern
> Language
> Association<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Language_Association>(MLA)
> standards. The use of ellipsis can either mislead or insult, and the
> reader must rely on the good intentions of the writer who uses them. An
> example of this ambiguity is "She went to … school." In this sentence, "…"
> might represent the word "elementary". Alternatively, in a usage more common
> in the 19th and early 20th centuries, ellipsis can be used when a writer
> intentionally omits a specific proper noun, such as a location: "Jan was
> born on ... Street in Warsaw." Omission of part of a quoted sentence without
> indication by an ellipsis (or bracketed text) would mislead the readers. For
> example, "She went to school," as opposed to "She went to Broadmoor
> Elementary school."
>
> An ellipsis may also imply an unstated alternative indicated by context.
> For example, when Count
> Dracula<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Dracula>says "I never drink …
> wine", the implication is that he does drink something
> else, which in the context would be blood.
>
> In writing the speech of a character in fiction or nonfiction, the ellipsis
> is sometimes used to represent an intentional silence of a character,
> usually invoked to emphasize a character's irritation, appall, shock or
> disgust.
>
> The style and use varies in the English language. In legal writing in the
> United States, Rule 5.3 in the
> Bluebook<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebook>citation guide governs the use
> of ellipsis and requires a space before the
> first dot and between the two subsequent dots. If an ellipsis ends the
> sentence, then there are three dots, each separated by a space, followed by
> the final punctuation.
>
> *The Chicago Manual of
> Style<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chicago_Manual_of_Style>
> * suggests the use of an ellipsis for any omitted word, phrase, line, or
> paragraph from within a quoted passage. There are two commonly used methods
> of using ellipsis: one uses three dots for any omission, while the second
> makes a distinction between omissions within a sentence (using three dots:
> . . .) and omissions between sentences (using a period and a space followed
> by three dots: . ...). An ellipsis at the end of a sentence with no sentence
> following should be followed by a period (for a total of four dots). The
> Modern
> Language
> Association<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Language_Association>(MLA)
> however, used to indicate that an ellipsis must include spaces before
> and after each dot in all uses. If an ellipsis is meant to represent an
> omission, square brackets <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_bracket>must
> surround the ellipsis to make it clear that there was no pause in the
> original quote: [ . . . ]. Currently, the MLA has removed the requirement of
> brackets in their style handbooks. However, the use of brackets is still
> correct as it clears confusion.
>
> According to Robert Bringhurst's *Elements of Typographic
> Style<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elements_of_Typographic_Style>
> *, the details of typesetting ellipsis depend on the character and size of
> the font being set and the typographer's preference. Bringhurst writes that
> a full space between each dot is "another Victorian eccentricity." In most
> contexts, the Chicago ellipsis is much too wide" — he recommends using flush
> dots, or *thin*-spaced <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_space> dots (up
> to one-fifth of an em <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Em_%28typography%29>),
> or the prefabricated ellipsis character
> (Unicode<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode>U+2026, Latin
> entity <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_entity> …). Bringhurst
> suggests that normally an ellipsis should be spaced fore-and-aft to separate
> it from the text, but when it combines with other punctuation, the leading
> space disappears and the other punctuation follows. He provides the
> following examples:
>
> i … j k…. l…, l l, … l m…? n…..!
>
> An ellipsis is also often used in
> mathematics<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics>to mean "and so forth".
> In a list, between commas, or following a comma, a
> normal ellipsis is used, as in:
> [image: 1,2,3,\ldots,100\,.]
>
> To indicate the omission of values in a repeated operation, an ellipsis
> raised to the center of the line is used between two operation symbols or
> following the last operation symbol, as in:
> [image: 1+2+3+\cdots+100\,.]
>
> The latter formula means the sum of all natural
> numbers<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_number>from 1 to 100. However,
> it is not a formally defined mathematical
> symbol <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_symbol>. Repeated
> summations or products may similarly be denoted using capital
> sigma<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_sigma_notation>and capital
> pi notation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_pi_notation>,
> respectively:
> [image: 1+2+3+\cdots+100\ = \sum_{n=1}^{100} n] [image: 1 \times 2 \times
> 3 \times \cdots \times 100\ = \prod_{n=1}^{100} n = 100!] (see
> factorial<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factorial>)
>
>
> Normally dots should only be used where the pattern to be followed is
> clear, the exception being to show the indefinite continuation of an
> irrational
> number <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrational_number> such as:
> [image: \pi=3.14159265\ldots].
>
> Sometimes, it is useful to display a formula compactly, for example:
> [image: 1+4+9+\cdots+n^2+\cdots+400\,.]
>
> Another example is the set of
> zeros<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_of_a_function>of the
> cosine <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosine>
> function<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_%28mathematics%29>
> .
> [image: \left\{\pm\frac{\pi}{2}, \pm\frac{3\pi}{2}, \pm\frac{5\pi}{2},
> \ldots \right\}\,.]
>
> There are many related uses of the ellipsis in set
> notation<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_notation>
> .
>
> The diagonal and vertical forms of the ellipsis are particularly useful for
> showing missing terms in
> matrices<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_%28mathematics%29>,
> such as the size-*n* identity
> matrix<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_matrix>
> [image: I_n = \begin{bmatrix}1 & 0 & \cdots & 0 \\0 & 1 & \cdots & 0
> \\\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\0 & 0 & \cdots & 1 \end{bmatrix}.]
>
> The use of ellipsis in mathematical proofs is often
> deprecated<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deprecated>because of the potential
> for ambiguity.
>
> In some programming
> languages<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language>(including
> Perl <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl>,
> Ruby<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_%28programming_language%29>,
> Groovy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groovy_%28programming_language%29>,
> Haskell <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskell_%28programming_language%29>,
> and Pascal<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_%28programming_language%29>),
> a shortened two-dot ellipsis is used to represent a range of values given
> two endpoints; for example, to iterate through a list of
> integers<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integer>between 1 and 100 inclusive in
> Perl:
> foreach (1..100)
>
> Perl overloads <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operator_overloading> the
> ".." operator in scalar context as a
> stateful<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stateful>
> bistable <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bistability>
> Boolean<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boolean_datatype>test, roughly
> equivalent to "true while
> *x* but not yet *y*".[3]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsis#cite_note-2>In
> Perl6 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl6>, the 3-character ellipsis is
> also known as the "yadda yadda yadda" operator and, similarly to its
> linguistic
> meaning <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_meaning>, serves as a
> "stand-in" for code to be inserted later. In addition, an actual
> Unicode<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode>ellipsis character is used to
> serve as a type of marker in a perl6 format
> string.[4] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsis#cite_note-3>
>
> In the C programming
> language<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_%28programming_language%29>,
> an ellipsis is used to represent a variable number of
> parameters<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variadic_function>to a
> function <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_%28programming%29>. For
> example:
> void func(const char* str, ...)
>
> The above function in C could then be called with different types and
> numbers of parameters such as:
> func("input string", 5, 10, 15);
>
> and
> func("input string", "another string", 0.5);
>
> As of version 1.5,
> Java<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_%28programming_language%29>has adopted
> this "varargs" functionality. For example:
> public int func(int num, String... strings)
>
> In MATLAB <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MATLAB>, a three-character
> ellipsis is used to indicate line
> continuation<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_continuation>making
> the sequence of lines
> x = [ 1 2 3 ...
> 4 5 6 ];
>
> semantically equivalent to the single line
> x = [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 ];
>
> Most programming languages other than
> Perl6<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl6>require the ellipsis to be written
> as a series of periods; a single
> (Unicode) ellipsis character cannot be used.
>
> Ellipses are often used in an operating
> system<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system>'s
> taskbars <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taskbar> or web
> browser<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser>
> tabs <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabbed_document_interface> to indicate
> longer titles than will fit. Hovering the cursor over the tab often shows a
> pop-up balloon of the full title. When many programs are open, or during a
> "tab explosion" in web browsing, the tabs may be reduced in size so much
> that no characters from the actual titles show, and ellipses take up all the
> space besides the program icon or
> favicon<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favicon>
> .
>
> In many user interface
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_interface>guidelines, a "..." after the
> name of a command implies that the user will
> need to provide further information, for example in a subsequent dialog
> box <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialog_box>, before the action can be
> completed. A typical example is the *Save As...* command, which after
> being clicked will usually require the user to enter a file name, as opposed
> to *Save* where the file will usually be saved under the existing name of
> the file. Also, an ellipsis character after a status message signifies that
> an operation may take some time, for example as in "Downloading updates...".
> The ellipsis is one of the favorite constructions of internet chat rooms,
> and has evolved over the past ten years into a staple of text-messaging.
> Though an ellipsis is technically complete with three periods (...), its
> rise in popularity as a "trailing-off" or "silence" indicator, particularly
> in mid-20th century comic strip and comic book prose writing, has led to
> expanded uses online. It has been used in new ways online, sometimes at the
> end of a message "to signal that the rest of the message is forthcoming."
> Today, extended ellipsis of two, seven, ten, or even dozens of periods have
> become common constructions in internet chat rooms and text messages.[*this
> citation is incomplete*] Often the extended ellipses indicate an awkward
> silence or a "no comment" response to the previous statement made by the
> other party. They are sometimes used jokingly or for emphatic confusion
> about what the other person has said.
>
> They are also used to infer that someone or something is stupid or lacking
> in intelligence.
>
> "Elliptical commas", or commas used in plurality for the effect of ellipsis
> or multiple ellipsis, have also grown in popularity online—though no style
> journal or manual has yet embraced them.
>
> In computing <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computing>, several ellipsis
> characters <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_%28computing%29> have
> been codified, depending on the system used.
>
> In the Unicode <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode> standard, there are
> the following characters:
>
> Character Unicode code point For general use Horizontal ellipsis …
> U+<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U%2B>
> 2026 Laotian <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_language> ellipsis ຯ U+0EAF
> Mongolian <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_language> ellipsis ᠁
> U+1801 Thai <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_language> ellipsis ฯ U+0E2F For
> use in mathematics Vertical ellipsis ⋮ U+22EE Midline horizontal ellipsis
> ⋯ U+22EF Up right diagonal ellipsis ⋰ U+22F0 Down right diagonal ellipsis
> ⋱ U+22F1
>
> In Chinese <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language> and sometimes
> in Japanese <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language>, ellipsis
> characters are done by entering two consecutive *horizontal
> ellipsis*(U+2026). In vertical texts, the application should rotate the symbol
> accordingly.
>
> Unicode recognizes[*citation
> needed<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed>
> *] a series of three period <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Period>characters
> (U+002E) as equivalent to the horizontal ellipsis character.
>
> In HTML <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML>, the horizontal ellipsis
> character may be represented by the entity reference … (since HTML
> 4.0). Alternatively, in HTML, XML <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML>, and
> SGML <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SGML>, a numeric character
> reference<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numeric_character_reference>such as
> … or … can be used.
>
> In the TeX <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeX> typesetting system, the
> following types of ellipsis are available:
>
> Character TeX markup Lower ellipsis [image: \ldots\,\!] \ldots Centred
> ellipsis [image: \cdots\,\!] \cdots Diagonal ellipsis [image: \ddots\,\!]
> \ddots Vertical ellipsis [image: \vdots\,\!] \vdots
>
> The horizontal ellipsis character also appears in the following older
> character maps:
>
> - in
> Windows-1250—Windows-1258<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_code_page>and
> in IBM/MS-DOS Code
> page
> 874<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Code_page_874&action=edit&redlink=1>,
> at code <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_point> 85 (hexadecimal)
> - in Mac-Roman <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac-Roman_encoding> and
>
> Mac-CentEuro<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Central_European_encoding>at
> code C9 (hexadecimal)
> - in Ventura International
> encoding<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ventura_International_encoding&action=edit&redlink=1>at
> code C1 (hexadecimal)
>
> As with all characters, especially those outside of the
> ASCII<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII>range, the author, sender and
> receiver of an encoded ellipsis must be in
> agreement upon what bytes are being used to represent the character. Naive
> text processing software may improperly assume that a particular encoding is
> being used, resulting in mojibake <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojibake>.
>
> The Chicago
> Style<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chicago_Manual_of_Style>Q&A recommends
> to avoid the use of
> *…* (U+2026) character in manuscripts and to place three periods plus two
> nonbreaking spaces (. . .) instead. Note the Chicago Style Q&A states in the
> same answer that “the numeric entity for an ellipsis is not formally defined
> for standard HTML”, which contradicts to explicitly given "…" as a
> numeric reference to the horizontal ellipsis character in HTML
> 4<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML_4>standard. This misbelief of the Chicago
> Style Q&A may have roots in long
> lasting
> confusion<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numeric_character_reference#Restrictions>between
> Windows-1252 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows-1252> on one hand and
> Unicode <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode> and ISO
> 8859-1<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8859-1>on another.
>
> In Abstract Syntax Notation
> One<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_Syntax_Notation_One>(ASN.1), the
> ellipsis is used as extension marker to indicate the
> possibility of type extensions in the future revisions of a protocol
> specification. In a type constraint expression like A ::= INTEGER (0..127,
> ..., 256..511) ellipsis is used to separate extension root from extension
> additions. Definition of type A in version 1 system of the form A ::=
> INTEGER (0..127, ...) and definition of type A in version 2 system of the
> form A ::= INTEGER (0..127, ..., 256..511) constitute extension series of
> the same type A in different versions of the same specification. The
> ellipsis can also be used in compound type definitions to separate the set
> of fields belonging to the extension root from the set of fields
> constituting extension additions. Here is an example: B ::= SEQUENCE { a
> INTEGER, b INTEGER, ..., c INTEGER }
>
> Use ellipsis marks when omitting a word, phrase, line, paragraph, or more
> from a quoted passage.
>
> *NOTE*: To create ellipsis marks with a PC, type the period three times
> and the spacing will be automatically set, or press Ctrl-Alt and the period
> once.
> The Three-dot Method
>
> There are many methods for using ellipses. The three-dot method is the
> simplest and is appropriate for most general works and many scholarly ones.
> The three- or four-dot method and an even more rigorous method used in legal
> works require fuller explanations that can be found in other reference
> books.
> *Rule 1.* Use no more than three marks whether the omission occurs in
> the middle of a sentence or between sentences.
>
> *Example:*
> *Original sentence:**
> The regulation states, "All agencies must document overtime or risk losing
> federal funds."
>
> **Rewritten using ellipses:**
> The regulation states, "All agencies must document
> overtime..."* *Note:* With the three-dot method, you may leave out
> punctuation such as commas that were in the original. *Example:* *Original
> sentence from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address:**
> "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this
> continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the
> proposition that all men are created equal."
>
> **Rewritten using ellipses:**
> "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth...a new nation,
> conceived in liberty..." *
> *Rule 2.* When you omit one or more paragraphs within a long
> quotation, use ellipsis marks after the last punctuation mark that ends the
> preceding paragraph.
>
> I hope this helps.
> --
> "To me, music that breaks your heart is the music that stays with you
> forever. It's one thing to be melancholy and one thing to be sophisticated,
> but when you get the two of them together in a way people can relate to,
> then I think you're on to something. You want the sophistication to lie in
> the purity of the sound, the beauty of the arrangements, and the quality of
> the performances."-Trumpeter Chris Botti
> --
> Chela Robles
> AIM and E-Mail: cdrobles693@xxxxxxxxx
> Skype: jazzytrumpet
> WindowsLive Messenger: cdrobles693@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Facebook Profile:
> http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=690550695
> Cell: 1-925-250-5955
> I Volunteer for a non-profit organization called Bookshare, to find out
> more go to: http://www.bookshare.org
> Are any of you trumpeters and have facebook? If so, come join The Facebook
> Jazz Trumpeters at:
> http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=2588375265&ref=ts<http://www.facebook.com/#%21/group.php?gid=2588375265&ref=ts>
> --
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Emily Harrison <greeniebone@xxxxxxxxx>
> *To:* bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 26, 2010 5:00 PM
> *Subject:* [bksvol-discuss] Re: Ellipses
>
> I believe it is considered grammatically incorrect to have spaces before or
> after ellipses, or at least that's what I learned in school! I definitely
> eliminate all spaces before, after and in between ellipses when proofing.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Emily Harrison
> greeniebone@xxxxxxxxx
>
>
--
Emily Harrison
greeniebone@xxxxxxxxx
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