Dear, emo children: Elipses are not interchangeable with periods. They do not complete a sentence; instead they indicate an incomplete thought and more often than not, a reluctance to complete said thought. It is not "just how you talk", as it is phonetically identical to ending your...

But... I can't help the way I am... it just... happens... GET ON CHAT YOU GOOF. D:<

by Anonymous 13 years ago

First 3 uses were grammatically correct. Last one was a failure. Ok, only for a bit.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh well. It was still spite. :3

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Actually, I don't think the second one is used correctly. It becomes a run-on sentence. I realize she was doing it on purpose, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Reminds me of Stevie from Malcolm in the middle

by Anonymous 13 years ago

There shouldn't be a comma after "Dear." :/

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah, I love how the OP is complaining about grammar and yet included multiple grammar errors in their post.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Exactly! The comma isn't supposed to be there and it's actually ''ellipse''. Now that's karma bitchslapping a grammar Nazi.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh, I didn't notice that! Multiple grammar AND spelling errors then.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Sorry, sir. It's not "ellipse", that's a shape. The word I was looking for is "ellipses". I'll concede that I forgot an "l", but I was on the right track. You weren't even in the same subject; go back to geometry.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I also love how the OP is obviously a dude, and when you criticized him, you made him schizophrenic. Was that intentional, or is someone's grammar not up to snuff?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Look, you can't just assume someone's gender. Yes, I checked out his profile, and yes, it says he's a guy, but it's still best to be safe. I don't like to make assumptions and I don't like people who do.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Okay, that's why you can say his or her. Not their. Their is plural. Do you understand, or do I need to dumb it down?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

No, "his or her" is disruptive to the sentence flow. "Their" is the only gender-neutral pronoun that would work, despite generally being used as a plural possessive. How would it sound if I wrote "Yeah, I love how the OP is complaining about grammar and yet included multiple grammar errors in his or her post"?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Then just guess and say his. 'Their' isn't "generally used as a plural possessive," 'their' is the plural possessive. PLURAL, not singular. No matter how clunky the sentence seems, if it's right, you cannot be criticized. You corrected OP's single mistype and one misplaced comma. I corrected you. The way you used it, "their" was completely incorrect.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

No, it wasn't. Look around. It's a new form of the word brought on in the last few decades by a shift away from a male-centered society. Previously, people would just use a male pronoun, but now they need something gender-neutral. Even the most well-educated and staunchest grammar critics have realized that there is a gap in the language there, and it NEEDS to be filled by something; as such, they allow that use of the word. It's more human than "its," more personal than "his or her," and less biased than "his."

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Where are these 'facts' you are throwing around? Apparently I've never met a well-educated grammar critic, because nearly all my teachers would take off for that in a theme. You need to base your claims on reason. 'Their' can never be singular. It's plural. Third person, yes, neutral, yes, but not singular. 'His,' is acceptable. Just make a guess; how hard can it be?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Some people can be seriously offended by someone mistaking their gender. It's not worth the risk. Apparently, you haven't met a well educated grammar critic. Your high school English teacher is NOT a highly educated grammar critic. Teachers have reputation for refusing to advance with the times, as I'm sure you know. Look, I'd really appreciate it if you stopped treating me like I'm ignorant, because I clearly know more about the topic, and you seem a lot like me. We even have mutual friends.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah, you're right. But I'm an old-fashioned kind of dude. I hate how stupid or ignorant people can change a language. I am curious, however, how mutual friends, or even common traits, remotely relates to the subject at hand. I will never use 'their' as a singular, simply because it is, in my mind, incorrect. Plural =/= singular.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Alright, perfect place to end this debate (though I don't appreciate the terms "stupid" and "ignorant"). I also consider myself to be old-fashioned when it comes to grammar. If you don't believe me, just say "sherbert." I respect your opinion, but I retain mine.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm a guy, the indicator on my proflie is correct, and my real name happens to be Mike. Just for future reference.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Alright, I'll remember that. :)

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Cool beans. I respect you; it's not often I come across someone with linguistic skills superior to my own. I don't pretend to be remotely perfect, it's just that most people don't care enough to retain proper grammar.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Why thank you. I would have ignored the grammar errors and given your post a "Yeah You Are," but... I do it too...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah that made me die a little.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Rocky, you sexy motherfucker, feel free to edit it to your liking. It was my understanding that there's a comma after "dear", though I should blame my English teachers for that.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

"Dear" is an adjective describing the addressee; it's the whole phrase "dear _____" that warrants a comma after it, because as a whole it is an introductory phrase. :]

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I knew there is a comma thrown in there somewhere. I guess I was unclearas to where.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Dude...this really upset me, now I'll go cut myself... Nahh, but really I use elipses and like to think I'm NOT emo.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It was a generalization, as while many people(including yourself) use them incorrectly, it's predominantly emo kids that do it. When you do use them though, is it not because you're upset?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

nah, I use them because they are more friendly than regular punctuation(:

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How are they more friendly than regular puncuation? In my experience, when someone is using them, they are really upset about something.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

lol...whatever.../ lol. whatever.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

See, if anybody I know did that, it'd be a sign to leave them the hell alone. Not too mention the use of "whatever", that's also a bad sign. I guess I just know extraordinarily negative people.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Um...ellipses are, grammatically, to be used to indicate that there is more to the sentence. (Example: When you are quoting something.) However, as I did with the sentence above, it is used in dialogue as a pause longer than one given with a comma. It can be used at the end of a sentence to aslo indicate how something was said. Example: "Guess what!" "What?" "I like cake!" "...and...?" (With the ellipses at the end, you can kind of tell the person is expecting a point from the other person.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I fail to see how any of what you said conflicts with what I said. The overall point is that finishing a thought with ellipses doesn't work and is an obvious indicator that the person using them is upset.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Silly Joker, why don't you go try overdosing on LSD?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I would but I already died...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

See, that's a complete thought. You would end that sentence with a period.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

10 points for knowing what it's called.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

is this what you think about in your free time

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It takes like 5 minutes to think up stuff like this. I'm sorry, do you have a problem with that?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Fuck you...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

i just love the fact that due to its length, the original post has ellipses at the end XD

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Argh, it pisses me off. I edited the post like 5 times trying to get rid of it. No matter what, it always did that.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I have ellipses tattoo'd on me in a sentence. Giving a more dramatic pause. I am amused by the grammer nazi battle in the posts, the S fellow being an elitist who seems to forget how language started and is made while the other guy is on the right sort of line but is still fighting a redundant fight. I am by no means well educated nor perfect with grammer and spelling. Yet I do get annoyed with someone totally butchering a language. As long as it is clear we should all give leway as local dialect and traditions effect speak and thus writing. It is annoying when people use ellipses just for the sake of it, it does imply an unfinished sentence or a deeper level to what is said. It is a good way to let a sentence trail off too as sometime thing are a little bewildering and you just have to let it end a little open as if with disbelief.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

They're ok if they're used to indicate that if the person typing was speaking their voice would be trailing off...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yes, otherwise known as an incomplete thought. It's incorrect to complete a thought and use them were a period should be.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It should be: Dear emo children, ellipses are not interchangeable with periods. They do not complete a sentence; instead they indicate an incomplete thought and, more often than not, a reluctance to complete said thought. It is not "just how you talk", as it is phonetically identical to ending your sentence with a period. It's a thinly veiled cry for attention, so tell me what's wrong or stop using them. amirite?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh shit, seriously? It's as if we didn't spend most of the comments correcting my mistakes.

by Anonymous 13 years ago