A question for BigFooty posters

[BrainOfMorbius]

Why do some posters... constantly use ellipses... (also known as "three dots")... as their only form... of punctuation...?

It makes it look... like they've... dictated... the... post... from... their... death-bed...

Or they're the asthmatic kid from "Malcolm in the Middle"...

 

[Barwick_17]

Shouldn't this be on the Gen Talk board...?

 

[BrisGirl]

I do it.

I use it as a form of pausing.....to make a point.

 

[Macca19]

Originally posted by BrainOfMorbius
Why do some posters... constantly use ellipses... (also known as "three dots")... as their only form... of punctuation...?

It makes it look... like they've... dictated... the... post... from... their... death-bed...

Or they're the asthmatic kid from "Malcolm in the Middle"...

Im guilty of this. Just becomes a habit of typing like this i guess...dunno why tho

 

[BrainOfMorbius]

It's a perfectly valid form of punctuation, and is fine when used properly. But when it's used constantly, it looks a little odd.

Oops - ...

 

[you_idiot]

Originally posted by BrisGirl
I do it.

I use it as a form of pausing.....to make a point.

Same here. Bad habit, I know-- especially given my line of work...

I'm a journalist.

Thankfully, I rarely use the ellipsis in my articles, though.

More of a nervous tick, than anything else, I reckon...

But there's nothing wrong with it, really...

Cheers,
William

 

[hotpie]

I will continue to use whatever writing style I choose............

 

[The Hitman]

I only use ellipses at the end of a sentance, and usually to illustrate a point or to provoke the reader to ponder what I have just said. Agreed when it is used as a basic full stop though. Gets annoying.

I use them a fair bit though.

The Hitman

 

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[Bomber Spirit]

I don't do it - I use a horizontal line instead.

 

[aggels]

It's my literature teacher's fault, that's what it is. In year 11, we studied Ethan Frome which had a lot of ellipses'... of course he pointed it out everytime... and the rest is history...

Seriously, I try to take them out of my writing when I read back over it, but sometimes it just stays there.

And while we're having a go at punctuation, fullstops and commas need room to breathe people! Sorry just had to get that off my chest. As you were.

(shouldn't this be on general talk?)

 

[Thrawn]

Originally posted by The Hitman
I only use ellipses at the end of a sentance, and usually to illustrate a point or to provoke the reader to ponder what I have just said. Agreed when it is used as a basic full stop though. Gets annoying.

I use them a fair bit though.

The Hitman

Exactly. It's a habit for me too, and when I'm making a point... as you can see now.

 

[Docker_Brat]

This belongs on the General Talk board...

 

[Mattster]

cos i'm thinking....of what to say next...

 

[Mobbs]

This reminds me of something I've been pondering : do smilies count as punctuation, or do you still need to add something after it, when it appears at the end of a sentence (?)

 

[BomberGal]

I think I have a tendency to do this. *refrains from doing so in this post*

I don't know why I do it so much - just an effect of pausing I guess!

 

[iceman]

I do it as well, must admit that its a habit of mine. I mainly use it as a pause between thoughts or opinions

 

[The Spornstar]

I am very, very guilty of this too. I just whack it in whenever I can't think of anything else to say.

 

[X_box_X]

I must admi't ... I am a culperate of this too

 

[jod23]

You will find ellipses in almost ALL of my posts. I would dare say that I am the worst on BigFooty.

Im a serial user!

 

[PowerGirl36]

I usually do it when I'm thinking of what to type next

 

[Danny Chook Fan Club]

You could always start a new paragraph.

Originally posted by Mobbenfuhrer
This reminds me of something I've been pondering : do smilies count as punctuation, or do you still need to add something after it, when it appears at the end of a sentence (?)

See, these are the questions we should be debating!

For mine, the smiley counts as a "word" of sorts, and as such is subject to the rules of punctuation. Smileys at the end of sentences should have closure in punctuation.

However, I would argue that stand-alone smileys do not need a full stop at the end of them.

For instance, if I was to type:

"Dan26, you are a

."

the full stop is required. However, a simple:

is self sufficient and requires no embellishment.

Originally posted by X_box_X
... culperate ...

Alright, I'll bite. WHAT?!

 

[BrainOfMorbius]

Ah, "culprit", I think.