I think this makes me old because I like using ellipses as a pause! Maybe I’ll just go to writing the word uh in everywhere so people know my brain is old and trying to think of things as I write.
Ellipses as pauses is a leftover of telegrams which bled into the era of limited text messages(and/or charging by the text), because the financial incentives for long single messages were the same.
In the era of unlimited texting, though, we’ve dropped that convention because it’s extra keystrokes. In fact, we’ve even dropped the period at the end of sentences in texts because you can just hit the send button as a thought separator, sending multiple texts.
Including the period is unnecessary extra information, so it is seen as formal at best or even a way to covey unhappiness, anger, or frustration.
Hope this helps! Note that none of this applies to longer form messages like this one.
hit the send button as a thought separator
This drives me nuts, that’s what blank spaces are for. I don’t like getting a half-dozen texts that blow up my phone, especially when I’m likely in a meeting or something. A text message should be a complete communication, with blank spaces to separate parts of the message.
For example:
I’ll be home late tonight, the meeting went long. Should be there in 30 min.
BTW, should I pick up something for dinner?
My SIL would send that in like 7 texts somehow, whereas I’ll send just one. I find it impolite to send so many, so I go out of my way to spend a few extra seconds making it nice for the other person to read.
Depending on the day I use commas like they were on sale at Costco but are about to go bad any moment. I did the same thing with ellipses for years.
Me and commas are not friends because of this. I use them too often and need to stop! I still use too many when doing creative writing thingies.
It’s so liberating to use short sentences. You’re writing a paragraph on a page. The reader is going to know that they all relate closely to each other. Make every clause a sentence! It’s fine!
Yeah until you’ve got your family texting you “We need to talk…” and then, the conversation is asking what you’re doing this weekend.
I try to not put them at the end of the sentence, I’m not so old I don’t get the implication of that! It’s in the middle of the sentence as a break!
Or sometimes as a literary device to indicate an amount of time has passed.
Using ellipses in the middle of a sentence is considered very rude.
Have you ever met someone who pauses in the middle of a sentence… just to fuck with you by injecting pointless suspense? Well, believe it or not… this is what ellipses communicate in written English. You’re building a lot of dramatic suspense and slowing down the pace at which people read your messages… and if you don’t pay it off… you seem like an asshole.
I don’t watch much reality television, but those shows like to inject massive pauses right before the judge reveals whether the chef made a good meal… just so they’ll gasp more and cry with relief and the audience will stay invested. But I hate it! It’s really annoying! And it’s how some people type.
The implication is that you know the next part of the sentence but keep it unwritten. The best exemple is when making a list, a, b c …
Sometimes it’s even just a indicator there’s gonna be a next part, like the “We need to talk…”
Although the more degenerate use is to imply the “you know what i mean/imply”, a bit like the english innit in some sens.
