Erratic Ellipses

El-lip-sis [i-lip-sis]: (plural ellipses; from the Greek: ελλειψις, élleipsis, "omission") is a term in printing and writing that refers to a mark or series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word or a phrase from the original text. 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 (aposiopesis).

The most common form of an ellipsis is a row of three periods or full stops (...). Forms encountered less often are: three asterisks (***), one em dash (—), multiple en dashes (––), and the Unicode Ellipsis symbol […]. 

The triple-dot punctuation mark is also called a suspension point, points of ellipsis, periods of ellipsis, or colloquially, dot-dot-dot.
 
Copied and pasted from Wikipedia, I kid you not. Of particular interest to me for the sake of this entry are those three small dots: “…”. I find it positively mind boggling that some people insist on using only two, as in: “..”. 

Hellooooo Grammar Police.

Ugh! Even as I’m writing this, Microsoft Word is underlining the aforementioned two dots with a green squiggle. Green squiggles mean something is wrong. Duh! All you have to do is right click and IT WILL AUTOCORRECT FOR YOU, easy-peasy-Japaneasy.

Technology: I heart thee.

Yes, I understand that most people do not write emails and Facebook status updates and wall posts in Word. I’ll give ya’ll that ¼ of an excuse to work with. But, unfortunately for you, the other ¾ of non-excuse blows that measly .25 out of the water.

Everyone, evvvvveryone, learns what an ellipsis is in middle school grammar. It’s one of the foundations of the English language. It should be crystal clear – if you are an avid reader of this here blog (thanks Papa P!) – that ellipses are an integral part of my writing. I use this convenient, neat little tool in its numerous forms – case in point – at least twenty-three times a day.

The Grammar Police part of me explodes, erupts, goes kablooey in a fit of madness when I see .. instead of … Really it does.

It takes a part of a fraction of a millisecond to strike the . key. A part of a fraction of a millisecond, people! Come on!

Repeat after me: dot-dot-dot.

Dankes!