If someone is in conversation and is interrupted, is it better to do it this way:
"I can't stand pajamas, they are so..." "Where's the peanut butter?" Bart said, interrupting her.
or this way:
"I can't stand pajamas, they are so--" "Where's the peanut butter?" Bart said, interrupting her.
Dash or ellipsis? Or some other way?
Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :
Dashes for interruption. Ellipses for when the speaker doesn't finish the sentence for some other reason.
Posted by Smaug (Member # 2807) on :
Thanks, Meredith.
Posted by axeminister (Member # 8991) on :
Hmm. I thought it was ellipses for interrupt, for precisely the reason you specified. They don't finish the sentence. Dashes usually separate a sentence with a new line of thinking, right?
I hit the ball -- not a big ball mind you -- and it went sailing over the roof.
"I hit the ball..." "No you didn't." "Yes, I did."
? Axe
Posted by WriteRebekah (Member # 9657) on :
Dashes for interruption, ellipses for a pause (or intentionally unfinished thought) or omitted words.
In Axe's example:
"I hit the ball..." "No, you didn't."
the first speaker is neither interrupted, nor has he noticeably left out any words. My inference from this dialogue is he let the phrase dangle, sort of like a whine or plea. If an interruption is meant, I'd try to make that clearer. Such as:
"I hit the ball to--" "No, you didn't."
In Smaug's example, the first speaker is clearly interrupted (though I'd argue the explanatory tag is redundant).
"I can't stand pajamas; they are so--" "Where's the peanut butter?" Bart said.
Posted by Smaug (Member # 2807) on :
Okay Rebekah! Redundant yes, but not really any sentence I'm actually working with, so I just wanted to make it clear that the dialog in question was because of an interruption. But then, that makes it extra redundant, doesn't it? Thanks for the help!
[This message has been edited by Smaug (edited October 07, 2011).]
Posted by WriteRebekah (Member # 9657) on :
Glad to help. But moderately annoyed I will now never know what's so bad about pajamas.
Posted by wetwilly (Member # 1818) on :
Forget the pajamas; I need to know where the damned peanut butter is. My wife isn't here to tell me.
Posted by Smaug (Member # 2807) on :
The peanut butter had better not be in my pajamas--that's all I've got to say.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Posted by micmcd (Member # 7977) on :
Also, as I recently found out whilst formatting ebooks - all of the dashes above should be em dashes (as should the one in this sentence), which is Alt-Ctrl-NumberPadMinus in MS Word. And when you separate part of a sentence - like this - you don't put spaces between the words and the em dashes. So it looks-naturally-sort of like this. The other dash, the en dash, is used primarily for ranges and dates. RIP John Doe, 1965 - 2011 (en dash). I think en dash is Ctrl-NumberPadMinus in Word. It's a bit more of a pain in the butt to get keyboard shortcuts to work for those on a Mac. Doable (and googleable), but a little of a pain.
Posted by extrinsic (Member # 8019) on :
en dash Mac keyboard shortcut is Option + Hyphen em dash Mac keyboard shortcut is Option + Shift + Hyphen
Chicago's punctuation principles on the mighty em dash;
Use no more than two per sentence to avoid confusion
To set off an amplification or explanation
To separate a subject (noun) from an immediately following or preceding pronoun referring to the subject
To indicate abrupt breaks, i.e., midsentence changes in thought and other interruptions
Plus several other uses related to use instead of or with other punctuation when context strength of interruption or change in thought indicates
And ellipsis points (note : an ellipsis is a figure of speech oftentimes but not exclusively punctuated with ellipsis points);
To suggest faltering, fragmentary, confused, insecure, tenuous, or interrupted speech (though an em dash might do as well for strong interruptions)
To indicate trailed off speech that doesn't complete a thought or idea
To indicate omitted text: word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph length
An ellipsis is figure of speech where a readily understood word or phrase is omitted.
[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited October 08, 2011).]
Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :
quote:Also, as I recently found out whilst formatting ebooks - all of the dashes above should be em dashes (as should the one in this sentence), which is Alt-Ctrl-NumberPadMinus in MS Word. And when you separate part of a sentence - like this - you don't put spaces between the words and the em dashes. So it looks-naturally-sort of like this. The other dash, the en dash, is used primarily for ranges and dates. RIP John Doe, 1965 - 2011 (en dash). I think en dash is Ctrl-NumberPadMinus in Word. It's a bit more of a pain in the butt to get keyboard shortcuts to work for those on a Mac. Doable (and googleable), but a little of a pain.
Or, you can just set Word's auto correct feature to make a double dash into an em dash. I have that turned off right now, for proper ms formatting. But it's not too hard to do a search and replace.
Posted by micmcd (Member # 7977) on :
@extrinsic THANKYOUSOMUCHHOWDIDINOTKNOWTHIS. My life is sooooo much better with mac shortcuts—i don't know how i lived without them.
Posted by MAP (Member # 8631) on :
Awesome Extrinsic, thanks for sharing.
Posted by extrinsic (Member # 8019) on :
Great, micmcd and MAP.
I should note I do this stuff for a living, lately as a paid editorial assistant for a respected digest, as well as a self-employed freelancer, and paid writing mentor. So many styles to work off of, from, and toward, so many variants: mechnical styles, processes and strategies, hardwares, softwares, applications, outcomes; many, many, many technologies and principles to bring to bear.
Thanks for the help!