Other I hate the misusage of ellipses

[Cynthiera]

With my experience browsing the internet, I can detail the many misusage of ellipses, which are [...] . I find myself constantly disliking the misusage of ellipses; most seem to use it for dramatic pauses and such. Using ellipses for dramatic pauses is incorrect, as ellipses are used to omit and to break flow. For example, the persons in which I am writing of will use the ellipsis similarly to this:


"Wow... we won!"


Which, yes, that does break the flow, but not in the correct manner. That text should be:


"Wow- we won!"; "Wow! ..." Johnny cheered to his team before yielding shortly and continuing "... we won!"


See the difference? Please, break flow with the ellipsis honourably.

 

[Skilpaddene]

Finally someone gets it, though I have caught myself using them incorrectly in a couple of RPs. One thing that always gets me is when no one can properly embed a textual quote into their essay. They keep making the same mistakes!

 

[B E E S]

"Wow, we won!" may also work.


Just remember that writing is a skill that takes a lifetime to learn, and while it may be frustrating to read other people's work you can always give them a polite nudge letting them know that they're making a grammatical error. I would highly suggest doing it in a PM though as to not embarrass them since that would be rude. If you don't want to politely let them know, then I guess just deal with it. 


By the way, if this rant is caused do to a certain player on RPN, I would be careful considering how if they see this it could really feel like a slap in the face since you're vagueblogging about them to a rather large audience.

 

[Skilpaddene]

Oh, no that was me ranting about people from school. We do a lot of peer reviews, and I always end up tearing my hair out because of it. Everyone on RpN seems like an English wizard by comparison, which was a pleasant surprise to me after joining.

 

[Cynthiera]

"Wow, we won!" may also work.


Just remember that writing is a skill that takes a lifetime to learn, and while it may be frustrating to read other people's work you can always give them a polite nudge letting them know that they're making a grammatical error. I would highly suggest doing it in a PM though as to not embarrass them since that would be rude. If you don't want to politely let them know, then I guess just deal with it. 


By the way, if this rant is caused do to a certain player on RPN, I would be careful considering how if they see this it could really feel like a slap in the face since you're vagueblogging about them to a rather large audience.

This wasn't focused on a specific person, no worries.

 

[B E E S]

Oh, no that was me ranting about people from school. We do a lot of peer reviews, and I always end up tearing my hair out because of it. Everyone on RpN seems like an English wizard by comparison, which was a pleasant surprise to me after joining.

This wasn't focused on a specific person, no worries.

That's good then, yeah! I just don't want anyone to be mad with anyone else ya know.

 

[Skilpaddene]

@Caru Yeah, I understand that. Luckily I haven't role played with anyone that had atrocious grammar. People who write for fun tend to be better at it.

 

[B E E S]

@Viktoriya


I have, although I had pretty bad grammar at the time as well so I guess it was okay. I agree with you on that. People who write because they have to tend to not put in that extra bit of love that's needed to make it a really good piece. 

 

[Skilpaddene]

@Caru And that's what I'm concerned about in school right now. A lot of people got stuck in my newspaper class, and I'm the Editor in Chief, so I have to help edit all their articles. Hopefully they actually put some effort into them so that we don't spend too much time in the editing phase.

 

[dva]

being a writer and an ap english student, i don't use ellipses at all in my writing (of course, in stories i do but not in articles or papers). but in casual writing like this, just like how i write in lower case when i'm not replying to rp's n stuff, i let it go. i use...............ellipses for dramatic pauses.......along with capitalizing the first letter of a word for Emphasis and to make sure that people know that word is Important in this sentence................................... i like seeing how people write. if they're really loose, like how i am, it's a good indicator of mood. like if i write normally/formally my friends are all like "..u ok mate" as if my intentional typos and Misplaced capital letters are indicators of my happiness lol

 

[Fenn]

I misuse ellipses, but I'm cognizant of it. Just like how I occasionally misuse other rules of grammar in a frivolous manner; it's nothing much. Grammar's just a tool for me to abuse instead of being restricted by anyhow. Aside that point, I feel using ellipses as a pause can be acceptable between quotes or so. As for narrations, then perhaps they want to follow the original intent of ellipses. People who overuse ellipses however... 

 

[Elephantom]

About time somebody understands this, for I was long plagued by users with horrid grammar. Ellipses really shouldn't be used for 'dramatical' pauses, they're not even meant for that. It's usually used to break flow, as stated by the creator, or as a form of continuing a message.  However, even I must admit, that I myself used to use ellipses for the wrong purposes during my more youthful years.


Nevertheless, to all whom use this as dramatic pauses, pardon me if I seem to be rude, but one really should be more self-criticizing and aware of his grammar.

 

[Skilpaddene]

I understand the occasional misuse of grammar, as long as it doesn't interrupt the flow of the writing, and it's meant to be used informally. However, there's nothing more aggravating than an incoherent essay. My pet peeves are redundancy, lack of parallelism, and ignorance of commas. 

 

[Fenn]

Haha of course! Grammar is meant to make writing coherent, to get your meaning across. In a creative forum such as this, yes grammar can be taken more liberally than formal documents such as essays. Though, I suppose it's a postmodern thing to write willy nilly. For example, the Vonnegut semicolons or perhaps, Joyce's quote indicating dashes. Basic proficiency in grammar should be mandatory before trying to manipulate it however. 


And I'll just let Faulkner finish for me:

" Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him. "

 

[Skilpaddene]

Ah, yes. That's a good quote, but it really only applies to people who actually have a passion for what they do. If you can't fall into your own writing, it ends up empty. I've read my fair share of soul-less prose. It makes me sad.

 

[Saccharine Cyanide]

I have to disagree. "Wow...we won!" is actually not the incorrect usage of the ellipse. It's not a dramatic pause; it's a moment of hesitation in the form of disbelief. The speaker is trailing off as their emotion changes from disbelief to joy. You could think of it as replacing a full thought, like "I can't believe it."  As in, "Wow, I can't believe that we won!"

 

[Elephantom]

[SIZE= 12px]But you really can't argue that this message, however seen by other people, translate into a dramatic pause. The author himself wanted to convey a sense of drama in that post, or the majority wouldn't have seen it as one. [/SIZE]

I understand the occasional misuse of grammar, as long as it doesn't interrupt the flow of the writing, and it's meant to be used informally. However, there's nothing more aggravating than an incoherent essay. My pet peeves are redundancy, lack of parallelism, and ignorance of commas. 

Indeed, miss, this is a rather irksome problem. I mean, why would one need either a dramatic pause, or a brief transition in what would casually be termed as an informative essay. 

Haha of course! Grammar is meant to make writing coherent, to get your meaning across. In a creative forum such as this, yes grammar can be taken more liberally than formal documents such as essays. Though, I suppose it's a postmodern thing to write willy nilly. For example, the Vonnegut semicolons or perhaps, Joyce's quote indicating dashes. Basic proficiency in grammar should be mandatory before trying to manipulate it however. 


And I'll just let Faulkner finish for me:

" Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him. "

Faulkner's quote is wholesome, but there are errors in it, might I be so as bold to say it. An artist's vanity, coupled with both a blatant form of ignorance — which could come from the vanity itself — and an enduring lack of aspiration, will lead to his own work turning out to be rather stale in the end. One needs to have passion for his work, formal or otherwise, with which his work would truly be for ought. A fact, which couldn't succeed more to describe the majority of amateur writers here, who both lack the aspiration, and the competitiveness, instead, enveloping themselves in an ignorant shell, their excuses being made up almost fully of the fact that this is a 'fun' site, and not meant for serious writing.


I mean, why come to write, when you truly have no desire to do so? Why use it as a tool for imagination, when you don't have the ought to convey it.

 

[Cynthiera]

I have to disagree. "Wow...we won!" is actually not the incorrect usage of the ellipse. It's not a dramatic pause; it's a moment of hesitation in the form of disbelief. The speaker is trailing off as their emotion changes from disbelief to joy. You could think of it as replacing a full thought, like "I can't believe it."  As in, "Wow, I can't believe that we won!"

The ellipsis is not used for hesitation? It is used to omit and to break or resume a thought. If you were to use the ellipsis more similarly to that, it would have to be: "Wow... ...we won!" Which is absolutely absurd. Unless of course you are using the (first) ellipsis to both break, omit and resume; where it would be "Wow[!] ...* [...] [*...]we won!", as the text closed in brackets would be ommited, and the text which has an asterisk by it is a break or resume of the thought. In such a case, yes, you would only need one ellipsis; yes, it could be correct, but not for the reason the author would like it to be correct.

 

[King Ad Rock]

The ellipsis is not used for hesitation? It is used to omit and to break or resume a thought. If you were to use the ellipsis more similarly to that, it would have to be: "Wow... ...we won!" Which is absolutely absurd. Unless of course you are using the (first) ellipsis to both break, omit and resume; where it would be "Wow[!] ...* [...] [*...]we won!", as the text closed in brackets would be ommited, and the text which has an asterisk by it is a break or resume of the thought. In such a case, yes, you would only need one ellipsis; yes, it could be correct, but not for the reason the author would like it to be correct.

Yes it is. All the time in informal writing. Here is a section from my favorite book, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kasey

“Williams . . . I believe . . . you were supposed to have the windows of the Nurses’ Station polished by the time I arrived this morning.” He scuttles off like a black and white bug. “And you, Washington—and you ...”

 

[Cynthiera]

@King Ad Rock just because it's used or done all the time doesn't mean it's correct.

 

[Fable]

Ehhhh, the main point of an ellipses is omission, but that doesn't mean that using it for hesitation pauses is incorrect.  It important to note that the rules are formal versus informal.  Informal, ellipses are fine for dramatic pause.

 

[King Ad Rock]

Ehhhh, the main point of an ellipses is omission, but that doesn't mean that using it for hesitation pauses is incorrect.  It important to note that the rules are formal versus informal.  Informal, ellipses are fine for dramatic pause.

Exactly.

@King Ad Rock just because it's used or done all the time doesn't mean it's correct.

Look up formal vs informal use of ellipses.

http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/ellipses.html