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The article mentions it only briefly, but the usage of ellipses (or just long strings of periods) in chat is even more fascinating to me. I once had a freelance

The article mentions it only briefly, but the usage of ellipses (or just long strings of periods) in chat is even more fascinating to me. I once had a freelance client whose mood I could gauge by the number of dots in her Skype messages. Read this and try not to cringe: no... that's not what we agreed to....... It almost felt manipulative. I always imagined her sitting across the table from me, forcing an awkward silence in an attempt to make me renege. So imagine my consternation when a friend of mine started using tons of periods in her text messages: hey.... let's get a drink tonight.......... Interestingly, in her case, the extra periods apparently didn't mean anything. As she later explained, "that's just how I text...... not sure why.." Amazing how much emotional weight a simple dot can carry, even when it's not intentional.

dkasper 13y ago
Ellipses are a really good example of a case where the meaning is much different in chat than in standard written English. My favorite is the double dot, .. , which I often use with some friends because a period seems formal or angry, whereas a double dot conveys a thought/sentence but in a more open ended sense. I wouldn't chat with someone in a professional context in that way though, and I have no idea how common that particular usage is even. I think it's kind of like handwriting where people and groups develop a style and then it becomes second nature and hard to explain.
gergles 13y ago
The thing is - people know this. It was lampooned on The Office, for Pete's sake[0]. 0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONrNetxS1Fs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONrNetxS1Fs
Stratoscope 13y ago
The one I don't understand is repeated commas. My older sister used to do it all the time. She would write something like: Well,,,, the way I see it,,, is this,,,,,, I have no idea why. I don't think she does it any more though... :-)
- pantalaimon 13y ago
  maybe a broken keyboard… (actually my cracked phone screen will do this sometimes, the comma is right next to space on the touch screen keyboard)
kens 13y ago
I've wondered about the use of ellipsis in Hacker News comments, e.g. "That's quite... unusual". I guess it's supposed to indicate that the writer had to stop and think hard to find the right word, but I feel like there's some semantic meaning I'm missing. Has anyone else noticed this?
- pantalaimon 13y ago
  If you read it as Spock, you'd raise an eyebrow at the …
- grecy 13y ago
  I do this... sometimes. I use it (I think) to indicate not only that I had to stop and think about what word to use, but also to indicate that what I'm saying is my opinion or thoughts on the matter. When I'm stating something factually I never do it, but when you ask if I want Pizza or Burgers, I'd say, hmmm.... Pizza sounds good :)

dkasper 13y ago

Ellipses are a really good example of a case where the meaning is much different in chat than in standard written English. My favorite is the double dot, .. , which I often use with some friends because a period seems formal or angry, whereas a double dot conveys a thought/sentence but in a more open ended sense. I wouldn't chat with someone in a professional context in that way though, and I have no idea how common that particular usage is even. I think it's kind of like handwriting where people and groups develop a style and then it becomes second nature and hard to explain.

gergles 13y ago

The thing is - people know this. It was lampooned on The Office, for Pete's sake[0]. 0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONrNetxS1Fs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONrNetxS1Fs

Stratoscope 13y ago

The one I don't understand is repeated commas. My older sister used to do it all the time. She would write something like: Well,,,, the way I see it,,, is this,,,,,, I have no idea why. I don't think she does it any more though... :-)

pantalaimon 13y ago
maybe a broken keyboard… (actually my cracked phone screen will do this sometimes, the comma is right next to space on the touch screen keyboard)

kens 13y ago

I've wondered about the use of ellipsis in Hacker News comments, e.g. "That's quite... unusual". I guess it's supposed to indicate that the writer had to stop and think hard to find the right word, but I feel like there's some semantic meaning I'm missing. Has anyone else noticed this?

pantalaimon 13y ago
If you read it as Spock, you'd raise an eyebrow at the …
grecy 13y ago
I do this... sometimes. I use it (I think) to indicate not only that I had to stop and think about what word to use, but also to indicate that what I'm saying is my opinion or thoughts on the matter. When I'm stating something factually I never do it, but when you ask if I want Pizza or Burgers, I'd say, hmmm.... Pizza sounds good :)