# People who overuse ellipses... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 9, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971 "2004-12-09T18:58:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/21 "2004-12-09T20:28:44Z")
I blame Herb Cain. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/22 "2004-12-09T20:32:40Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Heh heh. You’ll love this favourite from [foundmagazine.com](http://foundmagazine.com). > > Class. Read it aloud in Chris Farley’s “Finger Quote Guy” voice and it’s especially funny. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/23 "2004-12-09T21:20:53Z")
I’m sorry. I use ellipses here…but I would never end a sentence with more than one dot. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/24 "2004-12-09T21:40:54Z")
I mostly find it annoying in messenger applications. I use ellipses, but very specifically to indicate that I haven’t finished what I want to say … … and want to break the message up (usually due to some software limit or the desire to paragraph). When other people trail off, I too sit there waiting for them to finish. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/25 "2004-12-09T22:07:39Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > DAMN you Johannes Kepler! > **DAMN you to HELL!** Does the fact that I get this joke certify me as a geek? In any case, I agree. _Ellipses_ is plural for _ellipse_, the section resulting from the non-perpendicular intersection of a plane with a cylinder. The punctuation entity referred to in the OP would be _ellipsis marks_. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/26 "2004-12-09T22:16:11Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > Excessive elipses doesn’t even “come close” to the “horror” that is “improper quotation mark usage”. I “don’t know” why some people choose to “empahsize” their writing with quotation “marks”, but the end result is “so fucking annoying” that it leaves the me “a hairsbreadth” away from fiery displays of “rage”. O heppy day, when a “Kat” receives a “brick” from a “Mouse”… ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/27 "2004-12-09T22:21:23Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > Look, if you want to use a dash—and I, like Emily Dickinson, never met a dash I didn’t like—at least use it properly. You should use an em-dash, like this, — or two en-dashes, like this, --, and do not put a space on either side of it. You’ll pry my single en-dash - this one: - - away from me when you pry my hands - cold and dead - off my keyboard. But that’s OK - I don’t use it properly even if I was using the “correct” dash. Eccentric _and_ illiterate - that’s me! ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/28 "2004-12-09T22:22:54Z")
I probably use them more than I should. I do it to indicate that I could say more on the subject, but you are smart people and already know where I’m going with this, so I won’t bore you. Read my train of thought… Don’t wait for me to continue. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/29 "2004-12-09T22:28:48Z")
I tend to use ellipses, but I do believe that I use them appropriately. Usually in the context of an unfinished thought that needs no finishing. What I do catch myself doing (and I’m really trying to break myself of this) is possibly, just maybe, overusing parentheses. If the thought is parenthetical to me, then I just stick in parentheses. If I type up a particularly long response to something, though, I’ll notice that four or five statements are in parentheses. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/30 "2004-12-09T22:50:37Z")
I’m not sure why the uproar. People who abuse ellipses are simply people who have enjoyed unprotected sex in the last month and their minds are preoccupied with periods. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/31 "2004-12-09T22:51:14Z")
> [@Fuji Kitakyusho](#): > > Does the fact that I get this joke certify me as a geek? Naw, cause I get the joke, and I’m the coolest person here. Well, maybe not the coolest person here, but I’m certainly not a physics geek. Looks like you’re not a geek either. Revel 🆒 (or cry ☹ ) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/32 "2004-12-09T23:30:50Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > DAMN you Johannes Kepler! > **DAMN you to HELL!** Well, I can make ellipses with three dots – but what’s the typographic symbol for an epicycle? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/33 "2004-12-09T23:35:16Z")
> [@Fuji Kitakyusho](#): > > Does the fact that I get this joke certify me as a geek? > > In any case, I agree. _Ellipses_ is plural for _ellipse_, the section resulting from the non-perpendicular intersection of a plane with a cylinder. The punctuation entity referred to in the OP would be _ellipsis marks_. Going into Ubergeek mode here: _Ellipses_ (uh-LIP-siz) is the plural of “ellipse,” to be sure. But with the alternate pronunciation (ee-LIP-seez) it’s also the plural of _ellipsis_, with the meanings “something omitted” and “a row of three periods representing material omitted.” The second definition would correspond to your “ellipsis marks.” “…best of times. It was the worst…” The two series of ellipsis marks in that abridged Dickensian quotation are, in fact, ellipses _sensu 2_, standing for ellipses _sensu 1_. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/34 "2004-12-09T23:45:54Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I blame Herb Cain. [Caen…](http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/caen/) ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/35 "2004-12-10T00:11:17Z")
I did a brief stint as a line editor. We called this the “Morse School of Punctuation”, that is, all dots and dashes. 😃 I think there are two main causes. 1. The writer is trying NOT to be dominant, or even definite. The written equivalent of all those marvelous conversations where no one has the balls to actually take a position: What d’you want to do? I dunno. Maybe we could hang out somewhere… We could maybe get something to eat? I guess… Where do you want to go? I dunno. I had chicken for lunch… 1. All the writer ever learned about punctuation is that there ARE rules, but they don’t know exactly what they are. Rather than put in a period or comma or semicolon or dash or whatever–because it might be wrong–they just dribble in dot after dots. Grrrrrr. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/36 "2004-12-10T07:23:47Z")
…ha ha! Finally been pitted, in an indirect way, of course… 😉 Putting in those annoying dots are a bit of a “trademark” of mine, you’ll find them in every single post I’ve made here at the Straightdope, and most of the posts I’ve made every else on line… and I manage to fit them into my titles for threads as well… SORRY. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/37 "2004-12-10T07:30:34Z")
Guilty . . . but I pretty much use them when I’m writing in stream-of-consciousness “speech-imitation” style. I’m also guilty of overusing parentheticals, but again, only in informal type, such as the boards or Instant Messages. My e-mails and especially professional and/or business e-mails are properly formatted. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/38 "2004-12-10T07:42:01Z")
> [@Fuji Kitakyusho](#): > > Does the fact that I get this joke certify me as a geek? > > In any case, I agree. _Ellipses_ is plural for _ellipse_, the section resulting from the non-perpendicular intersection of a plane with a cylinder. The punctuation entity referred to in the OP would be _ellipsis marks_. It could be a perpendicular intersection. A circle is just a special case of an ellipse. ---
**Author:** ![Oilcan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Oilcan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oilcan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/39 "2004-12-10T07:51:47Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > DAMN you Johannes Kepler! > **DAMN you to HELL!** This kind of hyperbole is unacceptable… ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971/40 "2004-12-10T10:27:35Z")
> [@Kid\_A](#): > > Wow, my first indirect pitting. I’m awful at this, I do it all the time. Here on the message board and talking to my friends on MSN all the time. I never though that it could be annoying to some. Yikes. Me too! 😃 With me, it’s more that I have a hard time because I’m not able to bring my real life personality completely into my online conversations. So, the ellipses, and all of my other bad habits take the place of me talking with my hands, grinning, tilting my head in a smart alecky way…Stuff like that See what I mean? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-overuse-ellipses/278971.md?page=3)