OT: Use.of.Periods.Is.Fading.

[Kibitzer]

There has been a recent flurry of articles (NY Times, Wash Post, New Republic) about the decreasing use of the humble period (.) to end printed sentences. Generally, authors attribute this trend to convenience, especially as people text messages to one another. So, you may ask, how do they end simple sentences?

Apparently, the preferred technique is a line break
Like this
It's how poets encourage readers to pause briefly​

Got it?

A corollary practice that seems to be on the rise is the use of a space break instead of a comma. For example:

Boneyard posters * renowned for their acumen * have embraced the use of complex stats * especially shooting percentages * to evaluate recruits
​

ON EDIT: You should see several blank spaces where you see *'s above but I'm forbidden to do it.

I have deliberately avoided mention of ; -- ! or ?

Comments? GO!

 

[bags27]

Punctuation begins to evolve in Hellenistic Alexandria, where all normative Western scholarship begins:
The mysterious origins of punctuation

It continued to evolve because of tradition and technology, and will continue to do so, like language.

 

[Aluminny69]

In protest, I end each post with an ellipsis, for obvious reasons...

 

[bags27]

In protest, I end each post with an ellipsis, for obvious reasons...

May I please be declared pedant of the year if I remind you that an ellipsis ending a sentence has FOUR dots?

 

[JordyG]

Punctuation as language has been through the years both generative and reductive. Often both of these change because the older forms have been so misused that their original purposes have been forgotten and newer forms replace them. Sometimes change occurs simply through inertia. Good or bad both remain living, breathing examples of current human thought processes.

 

[JordyG]

May I please be declared pedant of the year if I remind you that an ellipsis ending a sentence has FOUR dots?

The bid is three, now four. Do I hear five? Fiveisthefiveisthefiveisthebid, do I hear five. Anyone?

 

[Kibitzer]

The bid is three, now four. Do I hear five? Fiveisthefiveisthefiveisthebid, do I hear five. Anyone?

I'll back Bags up. Use a three dot ellipsis (. . .) in mid-sentence to indicate deleted words. Use the four dot one (. . . .) at the end of a sentence, usually to indicate that a sentence or more has been deleted.

And it's not a cardinal sin if you like to use a series of dots to cause your reader to pause.

 

[Aluminny69]

I'll back Bags up. Use a three dot ellipsis (. . .) in mid-sentence to indicate deleted words. Use the four dot one (. . . .) at the end of a sentence, usually to indicate that a sentence or more has been deleted.

And it's not a cardinal sin if you like to use a series of dots to cause your reader to pause.

Technically speaking: The Chicago Manual of Style suggests the use of an ellipsis for any omitted word, phrase, line, or paragraph from within but not at the end of a quoted passage. There are two commonly used methods of using ellipses: one uses three dots for any omission, while the second one makes a distinction between omissions within a sentence (using three dots: . . .) and omissions between sentences (using a period and a space followed by three dots: . ...). An ellipsis at the end of a sentence with a sentence following should be preceded by a period (for a total of four dots).

So, three dots indicates an ellipsis, the fourth dot represents a period for the end of sentence....

 

[bags27]

you're right...which just goes to show once again how much we miss basketball....

 

[Aluminny69]

My favorite Internet meme:

 

[mr006]

... examples of current human thought processes.

Which explains why the period is going away. Who has time for thinking (let alone punctuation)?

 

[Kibitzer]

Technically speaking: The Chicago Manual of Style suggests the use of an ellipsis for any omitted word, phrase, line, or paragraph from within but not at the end of a quoted passage.

There are many professional grammarians who promote better style or correct usage through published columns and books (e.g., Bill Walsh in Washington Post) or internet commentary (like Grammar Girl).

More authoritative (but less entertaining) guides are the official Style Guides of the AP and the NY Times.

Then there is The Chicago Manual of Style. It reigns over all and is recognized as the ultimate arbiter of English grammar, punctuation, style and usage. When cited, it decides the winner in disputes among lexicographers.

Let the season begin. Only about 140 days to go... .

 

[JordyG]

Technically speaking: The Chicago Manual of Style suggests the use of an ellipsis for any omitted word, phrase, line, or paragraph from within but not at the end of a quoted passage. There are two commonly used methods of using ellipses: one uses three dots for any omission, while the second one makes a distinction between omissions within a sentence (using three dots: . . .) and omissions between sentences (using a period and a space followed by three dots: . ...). An ellipsis at the end of a sentence with a sentence following should be preceded by a period (for a total of four dots).

So, three dots indicates an ellipsis, the fourth dot represents a period for the end of sentence....

But what do the New York or San Francisco Manuals of Style say? Will any of them withstand even the next presidency?

 

[bags27]

There are many professional grammarians who promote better style or correct usage through published columns and books (e.g., Bill Walsh in Washington Post) or internet commentary (like Grammar Girl).
More authoritative (but less entertaining) guides are the official Style Guides of the AP and the NY Times.
Then there is The Chicago Manual of Style. It reigns over all and is recognized as the ultimate arbiter of English grammar, punctuation, style and usage. When cited, it decides the winner in disputes among lexicographers.
Let the season begin. Only about 140 days to go... .

There is style and there is usage. I'm not saying you confused them--I don't believe you did--but just wanting to point out that there may be a distinction. I actually don't really know if there is a distinction , but if there is, I would say that style is dependent on the publisher's preference, and usage is an attempt to present best consistent practices to all users of that language in writing and speaking. If this is a reasonable distinction I've drawn, then Strunk and White is about usage (but no longer seen as the absolute arbiter, I think), and
Chicago is about style. Chicago does hold court, as you say, but by no means exclusively. A large number of academic and popular presses use different styles. Style is somewhat of a convenience and somewhat of a way of setting one's presentation apart from others. The New Yorker famously (infamously, some would say) uses quotation marks rather than italics for book titles. What is that about?

 

[JordyG]

There is style and there is usage. I'm not saying you confused them--I don't believe you did--but just wanting to point out that there may be a distinction. I actually don't really know if there is a distinction , but if there is, I would say that style is dependent on the publisher's preference, and usage is an attempt to present best consistent practices to all users of that language in writing and speaking. If this is a reasonable distinction I've drawn, then Strunk and White is about usage (but no longer seen as the absolute arbiter, I think), and
Chicago is about style. Chicago does hold court, as you say, but by no means exclusively. A large number of academic and popular presses use different styles. Style is somewhat of a convenience and somewhat of a way of setting one's presentation apart from others. The New Yorker famously (infamously, some would say) uses quotation marks rather than italics for book titles. What is that about?

As I meant and tried to say, what do other manuals of style say? Which and who holds court; and where? Most importantly, will each court of style survive within 8 years, or will the generative and reductive nature of human language make any or all defunct? God, when does the season begin!

 

[bags27]

As I meant and tried to say, what do other manuals of style say? Which and who holds court; and where? Most importantly, will each court of style survive within 8 years, or will the generative and reductive nature of human language make any or all defunct? God, when does the season begin!

List of style guides - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Very true about the season....

 

[Gus Mahler]

There are many professional grammarians who promote better style or correct usage through published columns and books (e.g., Bill Walsh in Washington Post) or internet commentary (like Grammar Girl).

More authoritative (but less entertaining) guides are the official Style Guides of the AP and the NY Times.

Then there is The Chicago Manual of Style. It reigns over all and is recognized as the ultimate arbiter of English grammar, punctuation, style and usage. When cited, it decides the winner in disputes among lexicographers.

Let the season begin. Only about 140 days to go... .

Kib, forgive me as I slide into something a little off topic: the serial (Oxford) comma.

My place of employment recently distributed a brief, though helpful, style guide. Like AP and NY Times, it eschews the serial comma. What is bothersome is that these styles apply to such journalistic endeavors as newspapers and magazines and so forth. That is not the business we are in.

But scholarly writing commonly (almost exclusively?) uses the serial comma. All my professional life I have used the serial comma, but now at work it is proscribed. Woe is I. And the way the winds are blowing, as you suggest in your opening remarks, it looks as though the serial comma will go the way of the megatherium.

What's a boy to do?

 

[Kibitzer]

And the way the winds are blowing, as you suggest in your opening remarks, it looks as though the serial comma will go the way of the megatherium.

What's a boy to do?

Well, you could take to mourning the extinction of the even larger paracaratherium of that era.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Well, you could take to mourning the extinction of the even larger paracaratherium of that era.

Interesting. That would certainly take me out of my comfort zone, pushing me to mourn at a higher level than I ever thought possible.

 

[NVUConnFan]

Great posts above!

What about the lowly semi-colon as a pause? I know that the semi-colon is supposed to be a separator between related clauses and other uses, but it appears to me that the semi-colon is going the way of the dinosaurs.

 

[BigBird]

"Apparently, the preferred technique is a line break
Like this
It's how poets encourage readers to pause briefly"

No particular argument from me, but as a teacher of oral interpretation of literature, I teach students to view line breaks and even the punctuation as suggestions, not rules. They are to be considered, but not blindly obeyed. Some poetry lives well only in print, and isn't intended for oral presentation. The break might or might not be intended to encourage an oral or other pause. I mention this because students at college level today have typically been sold on "line stop." It takes some effort for them to build a new (better) habit.

And yes, the coming season should start tomorrow to please me.