I'm unsure, so I figured I'd ask the pros. (editors)
What is the proper way to punctuate interruptions in dialog?
example:
A - "I'm going to the sto "
B - "Store? Good, I'll come with you!"
I'm unsure, so I figured I'd ask the pros. (editors)
What is the proper way to punctuate interruptions in dialog?
example:
A - "I'm going to the sto "
B - "Store? Good, I'll come with you!"
that is an ellipsis's job
I'm not an editor, I'm an author, but the ellipsis is what I use.
Thanks Carl. I was going to ask the authors too.
I get a lot of different answers on these things, so I'm trying to cover all my bases.
I agree that using an ellipsis or something similar is the way to go. It's also what's suggested in many of the style guides as it indicates an unfinished sentence.
However, I don't use the ellipsis character itself, but three full stops (periods for you US people) so it would show as - "I'm going to the sto..." - which looks the same but is different characters. I do this as some of the ebook readers do not handle special characters like an ellipsis or an emdash properly. Thus I avoid the special characters like that.
NB: On many webpages and in some ebook readers I've seen an emdash and an endash turned into a hyphen.
NB: On many webpages and in some ebook readers I've seen an emdash and an endash turned into a hyphen.
What about a byephen or a lowphen? :)
What about a byephen or a lowphen? :)
I leave them to take seats in the US Congress in the 'no brains' section.
I leave them to take seats in the US Congress in the 'no brains' section.
The 'brains' section of the US Congress has been empty for decades.
The 'brains' section of the US Congress has been empty for decades.
If it ever had one...
The 'brains' section of the US Congress has been empty for decades.
yeah, the three seats were vacated shortly after the first Congress under the US Constitution had new elections.
Nipsy Russel on a game show once asked, Pro and con are opposite, that is plain to see. If progress means to go forward, what does Congress mean?
gress
"-gress- comes from Latin, where it has the meaning "step; move. '' It is related to -grad-. This meaning is found in such words as: aggression, congress, digress, egress, ingress, progress, regress, transgress."
It is possible that con gress means step together.
I always thought an egress was a female eagle. Like a Lioness is a female lion.
I always thought an egress was a female eagle. Like a Lioness is a female lion.
Nope, an egress in that sense would be a female egret.
If speech is interrupted, an em dash probably is better than an ellipsis. The dash shows a harsh break. The ellipsis suggests there's some time before whatever comes next.
If speech is interrupted, an em dash probably is better than an ellipsis. The dash shows a harsh break. The ellipsis suggests there's some time before whatever comes next.
As a reader I agree. The ellipsis suggests a hesitation or pause, the emdash a break/interruption.
The ellipsis suggests a hesitation or pause, the emdash a break/interruption.
And you should suggest toilets with a maddash ;-)
AJ
If speech is interrupted, an em dash probably is better than an ellipsis. The dash shows a harsh break. The ellipsis suggests there's some time before whatever comes next.
This. Unless the project style sheet says otherwise, that's the rule I copy edit to.
(It's also how I write.)
Like Carl, I use ellipses, but Mat and Keet are also correct. The dash is probably the better option to use. I keep telling myself to use the dash more, but 25 years of writing a certain way is a difficult habit to break.
It should be an em-dash (as in sto—")
Em-dashes are used for interruptions. Ellipses are used for trailing off speech.