On ellipses
27 May 2004 
in the wee hours 
Matt Winckler
The ellipsis (that’s three dots in quick succession, like so–”…”, for you unpretentious people) is surely one of the most overused pieces of communication on the Internet today. Anymore, you can’t swing a dead wumpus without hitting an ellipsis. I might even rate them as being more annoying than rampant exclamation marks (!!!!11!!!!) or caffeine-addicted question marks (hyper and in their own world–as in, “d00d, are you coming to the movie ???”). Particularly bad posts on USENET might go something like this:
“So after I finished doing my laundry, I wasn’t sure what to do……….I knew that I had to get some studying done……but I didn’t feel like doing it……Anyway, it’s not due until Monday………………..”
Come on, people! An ellipsis means that the reader should take a break for a longer pause, or that some information is missing (as in quotes: “…and he went to the supermarket also.”). Ellipses do not close a thought with a firm conclusion; they instead leave the thought open for further rumination. Well, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t need to ruminate any further on 95% of the material ellipses are attached to. For the simple matters, I simply want closure! Don’t leave me hanging onto the end of your sentences with dangling ellipses! It’s okay to have a spine and define the beginning and end of your thoughts! Unless, of course, you are an invertebrate who does not produce complete thoughts, in which case ellipses are your only hope and crutch in all communication.
It’s gotten to the point where ellipses are almost as bad as the dashes in Emily Dickinson’s poetry. And that’s pretty bad. For an idea of just how bad it really is, I give you her poem #465, “I heard a Fly buzz–when I died”:
I heard a Fly buzz–when I died–
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air–
Between the Heavens of Storm–
The Eyes around–had wrung them dry–
And Breaths were gathering firm
For that last Onset–when the King
Be witnessed–in the Room–
I willed my Keepsakes–Signed away
gah! I can’t do it. I can’t finish the poem. It’s too flaming awful. All of her poems (that I know of) are like that (both dash-infested and awful). Dashed dashes flying everywhere. Her most annoying ones are the ones that actually end with a dash. I imagine that when recited, they are the sort of thing that leaves the audience hanging, unsure of whether applause is now due or whether they should expect another barrage of dashes. Romanticism was the downfall of literature.
And I believe that superfluous ellipses arise from one of two sources: either an utter and total ignorance of writing in the English language, or the Romantic movement.
When in doubt, blame it on the Romantics.