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#lang pollen
◊ ( define - meta title "ellipses" )
◊ hanging - topic [ ( topic - from - metas metas ) ] { Avoid using periods and spaces }
An ◊ em { ellipsis } ( plural ◊ em { ellipses } ) is a sequence of three dots used to indicate an omission in quoted material .
The ellipsis is frequently approximated by typing three periods in a row , which puts the dots too close together , or three periods with spaces in between , which puts the dots too far apart . So use your font ’ s ellipsis character , not the approximations .
◊ ( omission )
The problem with using periods and word spaces is that it permits your word processor to break the ellipsis across lines or pages , like so:
◊ captioned [ "wrong" ] { ◊ font - scale [ 2 ] { imperative to . .
. courts } }
◊ ( omission )
Should you put word spaces around an ellipsis ? As with the em dash ( see ◊ xref { hyphens and dashes } ) , that ’ s up to you . Typically you ’ ll want spaces before and after , but if that looks odd , you can take them out . If there ’ s text on only one side of the ellipsis , use a ◊ xref { nonbreaking space } on that side so the ellipsis doesn ’ t get separated from the text .
◊ btw {
I ’ ve often wondered whether the zigzagging illogic of the ◊ em { Bluebook } is calculated to protect its franchise — after all , if legal citation were distilled to a few simple rules , no one would need the ◊ em { Bluebook } . Its subtitle — “ A Uniform System of Citation ” — compresses a lot of dark humor into five words .
One problem with the ◊ em { Bluebook } ’ s four - dot - sequence rules is that they use the same visual mark — four periods separated by spaces — to denote at least four distinct conditions . Namely: a deletion before a sentence - ending period ( rule 5.3 ( b ) ( iii ) ) ; a sentence - ending period before a deletion ( rule 5.3 ( b ) ( v ) ) ; a deletion both at the end and after the end of a sentence ( rule 5.3 ( b ) ( vi ) ) ; and a deletion of one or more paragraphs ( rule 5.1 ( a ) ( iii ) ) . This invites ambiguity . When readers come upon a four - dot sequence , how do they know what it signifies ? It may not be clear from context . Proper ellipses would help distinguish these conditions .
}