Anne asks:
Can some one give me a technical definition for "ellipse" and -- briefly if possible -- how they are properly used when quoting a person for print. Does one use two periods [..] or three periods [...] and should there be spaces between the periods [. . .]
The term is "ellipsis," as in "ellipsis marks." They usally involve three dots . . . with a space between each one and on either side to indicate something cut from a quotation. At the end of a sentence you need four, but Canadian Press Stylebook (12th edition, p. 296) cautions against using ellipsis marks at the end of a sentence. It does permit four if you include the period at the end of the preceding sentence. . . . But as you can see, even that is a bit distracting.
If the omission results in a sentence that's confusing or ungrammatical, it's OK to use your own words or capitalization in brackets: " . . . His [Smith's] charges are baseless."
Crawford also says: "CP Stylebook also suggests that if you're dealing with two statements that weren't together in the original, you should put the resulting quote in two paragraphs . . .
"Something like this."
Comments