Hatrack River Writers Workshop: . . ., Hyphen, Pause-parsing problems.

This is topic . . ., Hyphen, Pause-parsing problems. in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by JBShearer (Member # 9434) on :

Since the turn of the century, the use of the hyphen has increased - becoming near-fanatical. Before then, it was the comma, writers used them incessantly, poking them in, leaving them here and there, for style more than anything.

In modern writing, mainly in email and the internet, ". . ." has become increasingly popular. I'm not referring to a the usage in a quote whereas ". . ." replaces a bulk of text, nor to ". . ." as an indication of dialogue that trails off. I am referring to its use as an explicative pause.

I do have a point to this, a comma is generally used to indicate a pause. ". . ." in common vernacular usage indicates an emphasized or extended pause. Has anyone else out there seen popular press/published uses of this? Is it common and/or acceptable?

I find this application of style particularly usesful and find it to be a modern extension of language. I have used it extensively, and Lord willing - I can use it in the future . . . without fear of criticism.

Posted by Phanto (Member # 1619) on :

"Well...it all comes down to usage, really. In this example, it may work well--but, doesn't help the story as a whole. (So what? There's a pause after well. Big deal. You can indicate that otherways.) Remember, save special punctuation for special occasions."

Posted by srhowen (Member # 462) on :

The "..." is used to represent words left out--I know the Chicago Manual of Style says it can be used to mean a pause in speech--but common usage is to indicate words left out. At the end of the sentence it is four periods, last word space period space period space period space period. It is used there to mean a thought that trails off incomplete.

Don't be tempted to use more periods or to let your word processor program turn them into three dots with no spaces, this is not correct.

A dash--em dash can mean a longer pause than a comma, it means a pause always, not words left out.

I use both as to me they "sound" different.

Just be sure to read up on the latest usage and use them correctly.

Shawn

Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :

There are two types of pauses in speech.

One type is a grammatical pause. A grammatical pause is one which is used to indicate a separation or change. In writing, there are various punctuation marks that indicate such a pause: periods, commas, colons, semicolons, dashes, parenthesis, etc. In speaking, such pauses are represented by -- strangely enough -- pauses.

The other type is a dramatic pause. Dramatic pauses are not part of the grammar of the sentence. Dramatic pauses can be used to show that the speaker is hesitant, nervous, uncertain, in pain, or just plain dramatic.

To indicate a dramatic pause, I use the ellipsis (". . .") because it seems best suited to the task.

[This message has been edited by EricJamesStone (edited January 04, 2004).]