On Sat, Feb 03, 2007 at 12:01:45AM +0100, Gunnar Ritter wrote:
> Zvezdan Petkovic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > On Fri, Feb 02, 2007 at 07:44:10PM +0100, Werner LEMBERG wrote:
> > > . The proper way to write an ellipsis is `.\|.\|.\&', optionally
> > > starting with `\&'. Please don't omit the `\|' -- it looks quite
> > > ugly in PostScript output if the dots don't have enough horizontal
> > > separation.
> >
> > Doesn't it look typographically even better as `\|.\|.\|.\&'.
> > I think this is what eqn sequence `. . .' gets translated into.
>
> In general, this depends on language and style guide.
I know that it can depend on language.
Some style guides are more authoritative than other.
I was referring to English and usage in this form:
.ds eL \|.\|.\|.\&
sentence goes on\*(eL
where the first \| provides that extra spacing between the last word and
the first dot. Yet, the spacing is smaller than a full space which is a
little unseemly.
I'm not sure from Werner's explanation whether he assumes the usage with
the space between the word and ellipsis:
.ds eL .\|.\|.\&
sentence goes on \*(eL
or the usage with no space between the word and ellipsis:
sentence goes on\*(eL
> For example, the Chicago Manual of Style uses to put whole
> spaces between the dots, and this indeed is common usage
> in American books.
Exactly. Diana Hacker's "A Writer's Reference" states:
"The ellipsis mark consists of three spaced periods."
and proceeds to give an example:
"over . . . 300 milligrams"
Furthermore, it says:
"If you delete a full sentence or more in the middle of a quoted
passage, use a period before the three ellipsis dots."
It also cautions against using the ellipsis mark at the beginning or end
of a quotation unless some words have been cut from the end of the final
sentence quoted.
She also shows an example of use of the ellipsis to mark a hesitation
or interruption in speech to suggest unfinished thoughts.
"Before falling into a coma, the victim whispered,
'It was a man with a tattoo on his. . . .'"
To my eye, \| space looks better than a full length space here.
Perhaps I am wrong and the full space should be used between the word
and ellipsis.
> p.s. While `. . .' has a special meaning in troff, it is
> doubtful whether it should be used in emails or other text
> files, see <http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/ucs/quotes.html>.
I followed Werner's style here (see the part of his quoted message at
the top). I usually don't use these quotes even in troff.
I write
.q "quoted text"
instead.
Best regards,
Zvezdan
