The Double Period (“..”)

[whereverwx]

And no, I’m not talking menstrual cycles.

Does it serve a purpose, or is it just for show? I have seen several people use it on the forums, and I’ve always wondered about it. I also understand that if a sentence ends in an abbreviation, you don’t need a double period (e.g, “…such as cookies, donuts, coffee, etc.”).

Hmm… well of recent observation, I think I’m coming to a conclusion. I’m not sure, but I think it has to do with my encoding and/or font. Does anyone else see what I see?

[O Town]

If you are refering to.............a bunch of periods to seperate words in a sentence, I always interpret it as a big breath if you were speaking.

[whereverwx]

I hope Josephine doesn't mind if I quote his post, but this is what I'm referring to.

Hope it forms.. I'm tired of the quiet

[Yankeegirl]

I do it all the time... Its really just a habit... and yes, if I was talking out loud, it would prolly be a hesitation (sp?) between throughts...

[Miss Mary]

I'm guilty of a row of periods (!!!), sorry trying to be serious here. I tend to.......just add them, like that. To randomly skip from one part of a sentence to another, without making a new sentence. An English teacher would have a hey dey with this topic - anyway, I haven't noticed just two. It's either one or a series of them, all in a row.

[whereverwx]

I see. I was just talking to someone else, and they also said it becomes a habit. Of course, I would rather use a comma, lol.

[Skywatch_NC]

I enjoy using...too

[GalvestonDuck]

For me, it's something I've picked up from reading screenplays as well as something I probably carried over from chatting in Yahoo trivia rooms.

Mid-sentence, it serves as a pause for me, like O-Town said. Chat dialogue tends to be informal and people type as if they are speaking. I pause sometimes for effect and sometimes just because I'm stopping to think. It's like that in screenplays as well, except in more dramatic cases where a screenwriter types it as (pause) between two lines of dialogue. The problem lies when the actor does not want to be directed by a writer. He or she will put the pauses in as he or she feels fit and not where the writer has placed them.

Also, I think it helps to break up run-on sentences, which people can get into the habit of typing, since they type as if they are speaking...and goodness knows, a lot of people can speak a run-on sentence into the ground!

At the end of a sentence, it's usually for a final thought on a matter. It's for something that doesn't require an exclamation point or question mark, but a period doesn't suffice because if the statement was spoken, it wouldn't be with such a flat delivery as a simple statement with a period. It's kinda of my version of Forrest Gump's "And that's all I have to say about that."

Grammatically, of course, the ellipses serve to show where there is a gap in quoted text or where something is continued later.

Hope that helps....

[whereverwx]

Thanks, GalvestonDuck!

[brunota2003]

I just picked up on it, and it became a habit...my trademark would have to be 3 of them...I cant stand using more or less... Also, I use them to break up different thoughts in a typing as I usually do not use regular sentences and I also noticed the NHC in their advisories use 3 dots to break stuf up to...pretty cool eh???

[Yankeegirl]

I use 3 also... not soo sure why that is... go figure!!!

[senorpepr]

...technically it is three periods--also called an ellipsis...

From our friends at Wikipedia... "Ellipsis in linguistics refers to any omitted part of speech that is understood; i.e. the omission is intentional. Analogously, in printing and writing, the term refers to the row of three dots (...) or asterisks (* * *) indicating such an intentional omission. This punctuation mark is also called a suspension point, points of ellipsis, periods of ellipsis, or colloquially, dot-dot-dot.

An ellipsis can also be used to indicate a pause in speech, an unfinished thought or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence. Ellipses are sometimes used in this manner for internet chat, email, and forum posts."

Now, with that said, you will see meteorological bulletins use an ellipsis rather than a comma because some bulletin-related computers don't recognize commas. That's also why you'll see the same bulletins never use an apostrophe, but rather a simple solidus. (Instead of "don't" it's "don/t")

[whereverwx]

Thanks everyone… I think you’re misunderstanding me, though. I know what an ellipsis is, but that’s not necessarily what I’m referring to. What I’m referring to is a sentence followed by two periods, not three (an ellipsis). I have seen that used quite often on here by several people, and I’ve always questioned it.

Here, this might be a better example: (I have highlighted them in red)

Just wanted to take a quick second to thank everyone.. over 300 people on and the problems for the most part have been minimal..

One thing.. Please try to keep the "pointless" posts to a minimal.. None of us want the board to start straining with a storm threatning land.. So again thanks for all your support you are all great.. Just watch the posts just for the sake of posting

Perhaps it’s just a short pause… similar to a comma, but it seems improper to me.

[Cookiely]

Thanks, GalvestonDuck!

Who cares about periods. I'm crazy about exclamation points. Lots of them.

[WindRunner]

Perhaps it’s just a short pause… similar to a comma, but it seems improper to me.

Exactly. That's also what an ellipsis is (or can be used for). And it is improper, but most things on the internet are, grammar included. Of course, I'm probably one of the few, if not only person here that actually do the spacing in the ellipsis . . . but that's just me thinking it looks better.

[george_r_1961]

I never do that....i think its silly.

[Josephine96]

Love the fact that ya guys throw me in this..

Seriously, It's used similar to a comma, It's used as a breath in a sentence

[kevin]

..

[Miss Mary]

Waiting for someone to do that! LOL @ Kevin. Thought ole j would beat ya to it though.....

Mary

PS - hey look at that, I had my own series of periods......again! They're contagious!

[j]

period period period