Difference between revisions of "Punctuation"
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| − | = | + | [[The Drum Roll Ellipsis]] |
| − | + | <blockquote style="color: gray">This is a gray blockquote | |
| + | Substitute Ford for | ||
| + | Daimler, and Montana and Minnesota for California, and the | ||
| + | Court’s “illustrative case" becomes . . . the two cases before us. | ||
| + | </blockquote> | ||
| + | Does anyone know if there is a name for this kind of ellipsis use - the one that suggests a pause to emphasize the final, often ironic or wry, point? I love them. (Though not in formal writing; A SCOTUS Justice can do this. The rest of us can't!) | ||
https://twitter.com/bethwilensky/status/1375429569214357507 | https://twitter.com/bethwilensky/status/1375429569214357507 | ||
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| + | @BoydJordanP said: | ||
Calling the ellipses anything other than a drumroll would seem foolish. | Calling the ellipses anything other than a drumroll would seem foolish. | ||
Steve Mellen | Steve Mellen | ||
| − | + | said: | |
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I don't know, but I suggest reading it aloud as "DOT DOT DOT" for the same effect. | I don't know, but I suggest reading it aloud as "DOT DOT DOT" for the same effect. | ||
| − | + | Some else said: | |
| − | I think of it as the "wait for it, wait for it" ellipsis. I have used it in briefs, but then I like to mess with formal conventions. I've persuaded myself that judges appreciate the liveliness ... but maybe they just think I'm from The Great Lebowski school of legal prose. | + | "I think of it as the "wait for it, wait for it" ellipsis. I have used it in briefs, but then I like to mess with formal conventions. I've persuaded myself that judges appreciate the liveliness ... but maybe they just think I'm from The Great Lebowski school of legal prose." |
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==Quotation Marks== | ==Quotation Marks== | ||
It is awkward dealing with quotation marks within quotation marks. The convention is to use double quotation marks on the outside and single quotes on the inside, but I'm not sure that's optimal. I think it is a Changeable rule; that is, if a writer uses a different but transparent and good convention, the reader will accept it without thought. | It is awkward dealing with quotation marks within quotation marks. The convention is to use double quotation marks on the outside and single quotes on the inside, but I'm not sure that's optimal. I think it is a Changeable rule; that is, if a writer uses a different but transparent and good convention, the reader will accept it without thought. | ||
Revision as of 13:38, 3 April 2021
This is a gray blockquote
Substitute Ford for Daimler, and Montana and Minnesota for California, and the Court’s “illustrative case" becomes . . . the two cases before us.
Does anyone know if there is a name for this kind of ellipsis use - the one that suggests a pause to emphasize the final, often ironic or wry, point? I love them. (Though not in formal writing; A SCOTUS Justice can do this. The rest of us can't!) https://twitter.com/bethwilensky/status/1375429569214357507
@BoydJordanP said: Calling the ellipses anything other than a drumroll would seem foolish.
Steve Mellen said: I don't know, but I suggest reading it aloud as "DOT DOT DOT" for the same effect.
Some else said: "I think of it as the "wait for it, wait for it" ellipsis. I have used it in briefs, but then I like to mess with formal conventions. I've persuaded myself that judges appreciate the liveliness ... but maybe they just think I'm from The Great Lebowski school of legal prose."
Quotation Marks
It is awkward dealing with quotation marks within quotation marks. The convention is to use double quotation marks on the outside and single quotes on the inside, but I'm not sure that's optimal. I think it is a Changeable rule; that is, if a writer uses a different but transparent and good convention, the reader will accept it without thought.
Consider, replacing "ZZ" by "<<" (because "<<" is apparently a control character in a quote),
(1.1) ZZ I chat-boxed ("Have you posted the paper?") and later "raised my hand" and out loud made substantive ("Your data also says X") and practical ("You should list your references after the appendix instead of before") comments.>>
Sentence (1.1) uses double inequalities on the outside instead of double quotes. I think that's used in some foreign countries for quotations generally.
Using Underscores when AND is ambiguous
Compare
Doe and Sexuality and Gender Acceptance moved to intervene, and the magistrate granted their motion.
to
Doe and Sexuality_and_Gender_Acceptance moved to intervene, and the magistrate granted their motion.
