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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Incorrect usage of "..." (an ellipsis?)
Dear English forum members.
I am hoping you may be able to offer an answer to my query. I have recently been disciplined by my line manager at work for the incorrect use of "..." (presumably identified an an ellipsis).
I sometimes use this at the end of a line to signify a type of "see below" instruction
In this situation I have tended to alternate between using ":", ":-", "see below" and "..." with no particualr pattern, all in my mind signifying see below, look at the next line, here's a list (you get the general idea).
Imagine my surprise at being hauled into my boss' office last week and being asked to explain myself in terms of their being some hidden meaning or insinuation or a comment yet unwritten.
I was utterly bewildered and quite upset.
I am familiar with the use of an ellipsis when quoting someone or something in that a "..." would replace the need to continually repeat an entire statement, but have I really progressed through a grammar school education and 15 year carreer to find out only last week I've been offending a huge number of people.
PS: the offending article was a simple, friendly and short e-mail to colleagues and not customer facing. It was used in this context "please see e-mail below..."
Am I the only person in the English speaking world who uses this in such a way?
Regards
Rory
I am hoping you may be able to offer an answer to my query. I have recently been disciplined by my line manager at work for the incorrect use of "..." (presumably identified an an ellipsis).
I sometimes use this at the end of a line to signify a type of "see below" instruction
In this situation I have tended to alternate between using ":", ":-", "see below" and "..." with no particualr pattern, all in my mind signifying see below, look at the next line, here's a list (you get the general idea).
Imagine my surprise at being hauled into my boss' office last week and being asked to explain myself in terms of their being some hidden meaning or insinuation or a comment yet unwritten.
I was utterly bewildered and quite upset.
I am familiar with the use of an ellipsis when quoting someone or something in that a "..." would replace the need to continually repeat an entire statement, but have I really progressed through a grammar school education and 15 year carreer to find out only last week I've been offending a huge number of people.
PS: the offending article was a simple, friendly and short e-mail to colleagues and not customer facing. It was used in this context "please see e-mail below..."
Am I the only person in the English speaking world who uses this in such a way?
Regards
Rory
Top answer
I am not quite sure exactly what you did, but the use of three dots is not standard as an alternative to 'see below', Could you give us an example of something you actually wrote, please?
- I am not quite sure exactly what you did, but the use of three dots is not standard as an alternative to 'see below', Could you give us an example of something you actually wrote, please?
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2 Answers
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I am not quite sure exactly what you did, but the use of three dots is not standard as an alternative to 'see below',
Could you give us an example of something you actually wrote, please?
Could you give us an example of something you actually wrote, please?
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AnonymousAm I the only person in the English speaking world who uses this in such a way?No, you are not. According to this description on the proper use of the ellipses, this is a punctuation mark that is much abused.
http://grammar.yourdic
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