Ellipses

[PassportPanicFuuuck]

Why... do some... people... write everything... in a sort of... stream of... consciousness... way like this... instead of using... actual... punctuation...? Does anyone else... find it... really... annoying?

Surely it also takes longer to type?

(Yes, I know I'll probably be sent off to Pedants' Corner.)

I... like... using... them...who does it hurt......

I love a well-placed ellipsis...

I like ellipses ... but usually at the end of sentences. It kind of signifies that I'm undecided or still thinking about what I've written ...

Oh absolutely. As you say, it signifies something unspoken. No problem with that at all. It's when it means bugger all that it irritates me intensely.

Well-placed punctuation is all good in my book.

Me. It pains me deeply.

Actually I saw something even worse the other day. Someone typed a full stop after every question mark (of which there were many). WTAF?.

Ive always thought it’s just lazy punctuating like when texting. Not as annoying as “Dear Reader” style sentences. My personal bugbear is the question and answer: e.g. Does it hurt you if someone overuses ellipses? No. Is it irritating? Yes.

It would annoy me, but I have never seen it.

I use them quite a lot, but I like punctuation to be used correctly.

You Think That's Bad? I Know Someone Who Capitalises Every Single Word. It Does My Nut In, And It's Surely Just More Work For Them!

I like an ellipse and always sigh a little when someone uses too many dots.

Language .... written and spoken ... develops over time! 😀😂

Ellipses have only three dots and a space before and after. HTH …

They are used more now because people type on their phones and it is easier to use dots then look for other punctuation marks.

You're probably right, but I used to work with someone who used them all the time in work emails (which he was typing on his desktop).

That would make me murderous. Did they have a particular aversion to the works of e e cummings?

Frankly, if it's not used correctly - so that the reader recognises what it implies - what is the point of using it at all? (In fact what is the point of language if what we say/write doesn't have a consistent meaning that can be reliably interpreted by the listener/reader?)

I. Passionately. Hate. One. Word. Sentences.

Yes.

Sparingly used… I think an occasional ellipsis has its place. Used as you have done in your OP they are clearly annoying. No more than one per paragraph would be my normal approach, which I don’t think is excessive.

@saltinesandcoffeecups . Yes is OK. It's the sentences that are written with a full stop after each word that annoy me.

I use them quite a lot because I'm a passive aggressive b!tch and I need that reflected in my sentences.
I hear it's a boomer/Gen x thing according to SM, but I'm not going to be bullied into changing language just because others don't know what it means 😉 .

My DS talks in dramatic (dum dum duuuum) ellipses.

"Mrs teacherwoman said if we were good tomorrow we could have DUM DUM DUUUUUM 5 minutes more time at break!"

In fairness it does bring a certain theatre to an otherwise mundane conversation. I might try it at DUM DUM DUUUUUM work.

Also annoying is only ever having one short sentence per paragraph as if you're writing a bloody haiku.

I was really just being a smartass…but yeah although I do like a good haiku 😁