Ellipses

Summary

Ellipses (…) are used in general to finish an open-ended sentence, but can also be used to lead one though into another. The common grammatical use for ellipses is for when a portion of text is omitted from a quote.

Texting Uses

Often times, the ellipse is used in text messages. Many use it to replace a question mark, comma, or period. In addition, using an ellipse indicates that the sender wants the recipient to read between the lines or to provide sexual undertones. By itself, an ellipse can have a standalone implied meaning, which is explained in the Context subsection.

Context

Generally, when a person uses ellipses, they are indicating that they either have an issue (with their recipient or a personal issue), are showing insecurity with what they are saying. It also denotes attitude or sass in their messages.

In a different respect, ellipses can also indicate a person’s lack of grammatical knowledge. This is often shown by people who are new at texting, or people who do not understand how to dictate their thought properly into a message.

When used by itself instead of accompanying words, an ellipse indicates that a situation is extremely funny, outrageous, or awkward and you have no words for it. According to an article on TheCrimson.com about secret texting meanings, uses an ellipse by itself is calling the recipient to action to read the sender of the ellipse’s thoughts. A standalone ellipse can also indicate unspeakable anger towards the recipient.