haven't been online for abit......downloaded the new material that I
haven't read........


By the amount of newsreader submissions you have.....how do you find
time to do wood work......


just a question.......



Thanks


Rod

On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:56:29 -0400, Rod Upfold wrote:

haven't been online for abit......downloaded the new material that I
haven't read........


By the amount of newsreader submissions you have.....how do you find
time to do wood work......


just a question.......



Thanks


Rod


I'm not trying to start anything here or criticize in any way, but I'm
genuinely curious. More and more, I see people using a row of dots
(like the above) instead of just a single period at the end of
sentences. Why are they doing this? Does it serve some purpose I'm not
aware of?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Harry

I frequently use an ellipse...that's THREE dots;no more, no less...


dave

Harry Davidson wrote:

On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:56:29 -0400, Rod Upfold wrote:


haven't been online for abit......downloaded the new material that I
haven't read........


By the amount of newsreader submissions you have.....how do you find
time to do wood work......


just a question.......



Thanks


Rod



I'm not trying to start anything here or criticize in any way, but I'm
genuinely curious. More and more, I see people using a row of dots
(like the above) instead of just a single period at the end of
sentences. Why are they doing this? Does it serve some purpose I'm not
aware of?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Harry

On Wed, 20 Aug 2003 23:43:12 GMT, Harry Davidson
wrote:

On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:56:29 -0400, Rod Upfold wrote:

haven't been online for abit......downloaded the new material that I
haven't read........


By the amount of newsreader submissions you have.....how do you find
time to do wood work......


just a question.......



Thanks


Rod


I'm not trying to start anything here or criticize in any way, but I'm
genuinely curious. More and more, I see people using a row of dots
(like the above) instead of just a single period at the end of
sentences. Why are they doing this? Does it serve some purpose I'm not
aware of?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Harry


It is called an ellipsis.

I could cut and paste a definition but it would be more fun for you to
look it up.





Regards, Tom.
Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker
Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania
http://users.snip.net/~tjwatson

Use of the elipsis was made very popular quite a few years ago, by the likes
of Herb Caen and contemporary print journalists and columnists. There was
even a term coined for the style: "three dot journalism."


"Harry Davidson" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:56:29 -0400, Rod Upfold wrote:

haven't been online for abit......downloaded the new material that I
haven't read........


By the amount of newsreader submissions you have.....how do you find
time to do wood work......


just a question.......



Thanks


Rod


I'm not trying to start anything here or criticize in any way, but I'm
genuinely curious. More and more, I see people using a row of dots
(like the above) instead of just a single period at the end of
sentences. Why are they doing this? Does it serve some purpose I'm not
aware of?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Harry

Yes, but these recent things don't seem to be that. An ellipsis is
three dots (no more, no less) and is used to indicate an omission.
These have anything from two to ten dots and there doesn't seem to be
anything omitted. Weird.


On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 02:18:29 GMT, "J.B. Bobbitt"
wrote:

Use of the elipsis was made very popular quite a few years ago, by the likes
of Herb Caen and contemporary print journalists and columnists. There was
even a term coined for the style: "three dot journalism."


"Harry Davidson" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:56:29 -0400, Rod Upfold wrote:

haven't been online for abit......downloaded the new material that I
haven't read........


By the amount of newsreader submissions you have.....how do you find
time to do wood work......


just a question.......



Thanks


Rod


I'm not trying to start anything here or criticize in any way, but I'm
genuinely curious. More and more, I see people using a row of dots
(like the above) instead of just a single period at the end of
sentences. Why are they doing this? Does it serve some purpose I'm not
aware of?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Harry

I chalk it up as an adopted linguistic device for people to write the way
they talk. Nothing special about it.

On Wed, 20 Aug 2003 23:43:12 +0000, Harry Davidson wrote:

On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:56:29 -0400, Rod Upfold wrote:

haven't been online for abit......downloaded the new material that I
haven't read........


By the amount of newsreader submissions you have.....how do you find
time to do wood work......


just a question.......



Thanks


Rod


I'm not trying to start anything here or criticize in any way, but I'm
genuinely curious. More and more, I see people using a row of dots
(like the above) instead of just a single period at the end of
sentences. Why are they doing this? Does it serve some purpose I'm not
aware of?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Harry

On Wed, 20 Aug 2003 20:16:48 -0400, Tom Watson
pixelated:

On Wed, 20 Aug 2003 23:43:12 GMT, Harry Davidson
wrote:

I'm not trying to start anything here or criticize in any way, but I'm
genuinely curious. More and more, I see people using a row of dots
(like the above) instead of just a single period at the end of
sentences. Why are they doing this? Does it serve some purpose I'm not
aware of?

It is called an ellipsis.

Negative, sir. There are but 3 dots in an ellipsis.
Anything else is like those fid^H^H^Hdear friends who
include too many exclamation points in trying to make
one. Methinks the extra dots are where they went into
adult(?) ADD and started drooling on their keybords.


I could cut and paste a definition but it would be more fun for you to
look it up.

Ditto, eh?

-
The advantage of exercising every day is that you die healthier.
------------
http://diversify.com Dynamic Websites, PHP Apps, MySQL databases

it means and so on, and so on (you fill in the blanks)

damn spell checker! (I know, the word I wrote is a correct spelling for
a word of a different meaning...let's not quibble here )

dave

Jim Stuyck wrote:

"Bay Area Dave" wrote in message
y.com...

I frequently use an ellipse...that's THREE dots;no more, no less...


Hmmm...and here I thought an "ellipse" was "a closed curve
in the form of a symmetrical oval." ;-)

The word you're searching for -- the three-dot-thingie -- is
"ellipsis." Ellipsis is also "the omission of a word or words
understood in the context."

If nothing else, rec.woodworking can be "educational." :-)

Jim Stuyck

as Swingman noted, an ellipsis doesn't indicate an omission, but in some
cases it is used that way also.

dave

Harry Davidson wrote:

Yes, but these recent things don't seem to be that. An ellipsis is
three dots (no more, no less) and is used to indicate an omission.
These have anything from two to ten dots and there doesn't seem to be
anything omitted. Weird.


On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 02:18:29 GMT, "J.B. Bobbitt"
wrote:


Use of the elipsis was made very popular quite a few years ago, by the likes
of Herb Caen and contemporary print journalists and columnists. There was
even a term coined for the style: "three dot journalism."


"Harry Davidson" wrote in message
. ..

On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:56:29 -0400, Rod Upfold wrote:


haven't been online for abit......downloaded the new material that I
haven't read........


By the amount of newsreader submissions you have.....how do you find
time to do wood work......


just a question.......



Thanks


Rod


I'm not trying to start anything here or criticize in any way, but I'm
genuinely curious. More and more, I see people using a row of dots
(like the above) instead of just a single period at the end of
sentences. Why are they doing this? Does it serve some purpose I'm not
aware of?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Harry

On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 15:42:53 GMT, Ben Siders wrote:

I chalk it up as an adopted linguistic device for people to write the way
they talk. Nothing special about it.


Pretty much what I was going to say too.

Think of it as an emoticon for "trailing off the sentence", more so than a
traditional ellipsis would (and like adding exclaimation points or question
marks, the number of dots corresponds to the magnitude). I find myself
using it in places where I might finish a sentence with a gesture.

It also appears to be used to make a sentence quieter. Kind of like the
opposite of typing in all caps.

In an analytical stretch, you might say the poster was using the ellipses
to quiet his sentences to subversively point out JOAT's tendency of using
all caps.

david
--
It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have
learned English -- up to 50 words used in correct context -- no human being
has been reported to have learned dolphinese.
-- Carl Sagan


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

Yada yada....

"Morgans" wrote in message
...
it means and so on, and so on (you fill in the blanks)

Ah but it most certainly does in a quotation. ". . . is a
big . . . ." means that something was omitted before and
after is a big. Doesn't anyone use a dictionary (or a style
manual)? Consultation of Websters's which should be the
first step and indicates that the basic meaning is "to leave
out." The ellipse is 3 dots but some style require the
addition of the period when at the end of a sentence so it
appears to be 4 dots (using asterisks removes this problem
and is preferable to using dots anyway.

As long as I'm on a rant.............using all these dot
spacers is just a sloppy style of writing...........So,
there!

Bay Area Dave wrote:

as Swingman noted, an ellipsis doesn't indicate an omission, but in some
cases it is used that way also.

dave

Harry Davidson wrote:

Yes, but these recent things don't seem to be that. An ellipsis is
three dots (no more, no less) and is used to indicate an omission.
These have anything from two to ten dots and there doesn't seem to be
anything omitted. Weird.


On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 02:18:29 GMT, "J.B. Bobbitt"
wrote:


Use of the elipsis was made very popular quite a few years ago, by the likes
of Herb Caen and contemporary print journalists and columnists. There was
even a term coined for the style: "three dot journalism."


"Harry Davidson" wrote in message
. ..

On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:56:29 -0400, Rod Upfold wrote:


haven't been online for abit......downloaded the new material that I
haven't read........


By the amount of newsreader submissions you have.....how do you find
time to do wood work......


just a question.......



Thanks


Rod


I'm not trying to start anything here or criticize in any way, but I'm
genuinely curious. More and more, I see people using a row of dots
(like the above) instead of just a single period at the end of
sentences. Why are they doing this? Does it serve some purpose I'm not
aware of?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Harry

George E. Cawthon wrote:

Ah but it most certainly does in a quotation. ". . . is a
big . . . ." means that something was omitted before and
after is a big. Doesn't anyone use a dictionary (or a style
manual)? Consultation of Websters's which should be the
first step and indicates that the basic meaning is "to leave
out." The ellipse is 3 dots but some style require the
addition of the period when at the end of a sentence so it
appears to be 4 dots (using asterisks removes this problem
and is preferable to using dots anyway.

As long as I'm on a rant.............using all these dot
spacers is just a sloppy style of writing...........So,
there!

Bay Area Dave wrote:


as Swingman noted, an ellipsis doesn't indicate an omission, but in some
cases it is used that way also.

dave

Harry Davidson wrote:



Yes, but these recent things don't seem to be that. An ellipsis is
three dots (no more, no less) and is used to indicate an omission.
These have anything from two to ten dots and there doesn't seem to be
anything omitted. Weird.


On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 02:18:29 GMT, "J.B. Bobbitt"
wrote:




Use of the elipsis was made very popular quite a few years ago, by the likes
of Herb Caen and contemporary print journalists and columnists. There was
even a term coined for the style: "three dot journalism."


"Harry Davidson" wrote in message
m...



On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:56:29 -0400, Rod Upfold wrote:




haven't been online for abit......downloaded the new material that I
haven't read........


By the amount of newsreader submissions you have.....how do you find
time to do wood work......


just a question.......



Thanks


Rod


I'm not trying to start anything here or criticize in any way, but I'm
genuinely curious. More and more, I see people using a row of dots
(like the above) instead of just a single period at the end of
sentences. Why are they doing this? Does it serve some purpose I'm not
aware of?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Harry


....haha! When I was in journalism school I started to use the ellipsis
quite a bit, thinking it made my copy more, ah, readable. You know,
flow: I was never berated by an instructor or professor, either,
getting great marks on my writing all the way through and into grad
studies. I kinda wore it out, finding it challenging to use classic
punctuation...however I still used it...for effect...and because, yup,
I'm lazy! cg

someone else said it better than me (or is it "I"; I can never remember
which is correct); it's used (and useful) because it mimics our speech
pattern...nothing wrong with that...

dave

charlie groh wrote:

George E. Cawthon wrote:

Ah but it most certainly does in a quotation. ". . . is a
big . . . ." means that something was omitted before and
after is a big. Doesn't anyone use a dictionary (or a style
manual)? Consultation of Websters's which should be the
first step and indicates that the basic meaning is "to leave
out." The ellipse is 3 dots but some style require the
addition of the period when at the end of a sentence so it
appears to be 4 dots (using asterisks removes this problem
and is preferable to using dots anyway.

As long as I'm on a rant.............using all these dot
spacers is just a sloppy style of writing...........So,
there!
Bay Area Dave wrote:


as Swingman noted, an ellipsis doesn't indicate an omission, but in some
cases it is used that way also.

dave

Harry Davidson wrote:



Yes, but these recent things don't seem to be that. An ellipsis is
three dots (no more, no less) and is used to indicate an omission.
These have anything from two to ten dots and there doesn't seem to be
anything omitted. Weird.


On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 02:18:29 GMT, "J.B. Bobbitt"
wrote:




Use of the elipsis was made very popular quite a few years ago, by
the likes
of Herb Caen and contemporary print journalists and columnists.
There was
even a term coined for the style: "three dot journalism."


"Harry Davidson" wrote in message
...



On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:56:29 -0400, Rod Upfold wrote:




haven't been online for abit......downloaded the new material that I
haven't read........


By the amount of newsreader submissions you have.....how do you find
time to do wood work......


just a question.......



Thanks


Rod


I'm not trying to start anything here or criticize in any way, but
I'm
genuinely curious. More and more, I see people using a row of dots
(like the above) instead of just a single period at the end of
sentences. Why are they doing this? Does it serve some purpose I'm
not
aware of?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Harry


...haha! When I was in journalism school I started to use the ellipsis
quite a bit, thinking it made my copy more, ah, readable. You know,
flow: I was never berated by an instructor or professor, either,
getting great marks on my writing all the way through and into grad
studies. I kinda wore it out, finding it challenging to use classic
punctuation...however I still used it...for effect...and because, yup,
I'm lazy! cg

Bay Area Dave wrote:

someone else said it better than me (or is it "I"; I can never remember
which is correct); it's used (and useful) because it mimics our speech
pattern...nothing wrong with that...

dave

((snip))

That's easy, just complete the sentence, "someone else said
it better than I did" (it's obvious to most that "me did" is
wrong). Yeah, it can be useful, but that doesn't make in
any less sloppy. And BTW, we ain't talking, we be poken
keys. People that write well and then talk like they write
are usually called "pedantic." People that write like
common speech usually receive much less flattering
adjectives such as "uneducated." Let's just leave it as
"setting a damn poor example for your kids."

Isn't that like saying, "a lake doesn't have to have any
water?"

Swingman wrote:

I was horribly misquoted ... what I said is that "... an ellipsis doesn't
have to omit anything". ;)

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 8/16/03

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
Ah but it most certainly does in a quotation. ". . . is a
big . . . ." means that something was omitted before and
after is a big. Doesn't anyone use a dictionary (or a style
manual)? Consultation of Websters's which should be the
first step and indicates that the basic meaning is "to leave
out." The ellipse is 3 dots but some style require the
addition of the period when at the end of a sentence so it
appears to be 4 dots (using asterisks removes this problem
and is preferable to using dots anyway.

As long as I'm on a rant.............using all these dot
spacers is just a sloppy style of writing...........So,
there!

Bay Area Dave wrote:

as Swingman noted, an ellipsis doesn't indicate an omission, but in some
cases it is used that way also.

Actually, it's more like saying "... the pot often calls the kettle black":

http://groups.google.com/groups?safe...&num=100&hl=en

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 8/16/03

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
Isn't that like saying, "a lake doesn't have to have any
water?"

Swingman wrote:

I was horribly misquoted ... what I said is that "... an ellipsis
doesn't
have to omit anything". ;)

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 8/16/03

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
Ah but it most certainly does in a quotation. ". . . is a
big . . . ." means that something was omitted before and
after is a big. Doesn't anyone use a dictionary (or a style
manual)? Consultation of Websters's which should be the
first step and indicates that the basic meaning is "to leave
out." The ellipse is 3 dots but some style require the
addition of the period when at the end of a sentence so it
appears to be 4 dots (using asterisks removes this problem
and is preferable to using dots anyway.

As long as I'm on a rant.............using all these dot
spacers is just a sloppy style of writing...........So,
there!

I'm lost! Are you talking about being misquoted? I wasn't.
My point was that ellipsis means there is an omission and
lake means there is water. You can have an ellipsis unless
something is missing and you can't have a lake without
water.

Swingman wrote:

Actually, it's more like saying "... the pot often calls the kettle black":

http://groups.google.com/groups?safe...&num=100&hl=en

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 8/16/03

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
Isn't that like saying, "a lake doesn't have to have any
water?"

Swingman wrote:

I was horribly misquoted ... what I said is that "... an ellipsis
doesn't
have to omit anything". ;)

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 8/16/03

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
Ah but it most certainly does in a quotation. ". . . is a
big . . . ." means that something was omitted before and
after is a big. Doesn't anyone use a dictionary (or a style
manual)? Consultation of Websters's which should be the
first step and indicates that the basic meaning is "to leave
out." The ellipse is 3 dots but some style require the
addition of the period when at the end of a sentence so it
appears to be 4 dots (using asterisks removes this problem
and is preferable to using dots anyway.

As long as I'm on a rant.............using all these dot
spacers is just a sloppy style of writing...........So,
there!

Mon, Aug 25, 2003, 4:32am (EDT+4)
(George=A0E.=A0Cawthon) says:
I agree with you last point.
Suppression? OK, here is a suppressed thought. =A0 =A0 =A0 Hope you
figured out what it was since I didn't omit
anything, I just suppressed.

Well, actually the suppressed part is from the dictionary. I feel
the same about suppressed as about omitted. Anyway, since you didn't
use any dots, who would know either way?

A lake with no water? Are there any fish in that lake or are they too
busy with their sailboat races?

Where else would they get dried fish? As for races:
http://www.swlandsailing.com/

In closing ... LOL

JOAT
If we're all God's children, what's so special about Jesus?

Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
Web Page Update 20 Aug 2003. Some tunes I like.
http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofal...OMETUNESILIKE/

Jack-of-all-trades - JOAT wrote:

Mon, Aug 25, 2003, 4:32am (EDT+4)
(George E. Cawthon) says:
I agree with you last point.
Suppression? OK, here is a suppressed thought. Hope you
figured out what it was since I didn't omit
anything, I just suppressed.

Well, actually the suppressed part is from the dictionary. I feel
the same about suppressed as about omitted. Anyway, since you didn't
use any dots, who would know either way?

A lake with no water? Are there any fish in that lake or are they too
busy with their sailboat races?

Where else would they get dried fish? As for races:
http://www.swlandsailing.com/

In closing ... LOL

JOAT
If we're all God's children, what's so special about Jesus?

Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
Web Page Update 20 Aug 2003. Some tunes I like.
http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofal...OMETUNESILIKE/

Damn! I forgot about where dried fish would come from.