I Hate Ellipsis’…
Whenever someone uses an ellipsis to end a sentence, text message, instant message or email, I have this affliction with it, it triggers me and I take offense to it. If you’re not familiar with an ellipsis, it is three dots usually found at the end of a sentence.
The official definition for an ellipsis is:
The omission from speech or writing of a word or words that are superfluous or able to be understood from contextual clues.
Just like the sound of chewing is enough to make me start filling up with anger inside (it is a real condition by the way), the use of the ellipsis to me is disrespectful and I always take it the wrong way. When I see an ellipsis, I usually take it as sarcasm or annoyance.
Take the following sentences and tell me if you detect any hint of sarcasm in them:
“I already told you, pigs can’t fly…”
“Are you stupid? I don’t have your keys…”
“Oh, nice use of grammar there, asshole…”
“Yeah, whatever…”
“Yeah, I am alright thanks…”
Do any of the above “trigger” you? Do you feel like you’re at the receiving end of scorn, like you’re being belittled or the other person is using this sarcastic frustrated tone with you? If any of those were sent to me, I would definitely read into the use of the ellipsis.
Maybe I am just overreacting, maybe it is just another medical condition like my disdain of the sound of chewing. Does anyone else get annoyed when someone uses an ellipsis when speaking with you? Am I alone here? Is there anything wrong with an ellipsis?
From the limited subset of people I have asked, it seems this is a problem that I only have. I have not met anyone else who mistook the use of an ellipsis as some kind personal jab or annoyance. Tone of voice via a non-oral message can be hard to decipher.
If you use an ellipsis to string sentences together, I can live with that (even if it is poor grammar). But if you use an ellipsis to end a sentence, rest assured I am judging you for it and I am annoyed (although I will not tell you). If you’re chewing loudly, smacking your lips and using an ellipsis: may God have mercy on your soul.
Don’t get me started on people who insist on using multiple exclamation marks, and the small subset of people who mangle the English language so badly they combine question marks with exclamation marks, like this: !?!?!?!!!?
