Quadruple punctuation
 

Now this may be a case of the pot accusing the kettle of being a darker than average colour given my ham fisted iPhone / iPad typing but can someone please explain what is signified by the quadruple full stop or even worse the quadruple comma?

I've seen this cropping up on many an Internet forum , including this one.

I don't get it . It's not like text speak which is basically a shortcut , here you are actively inserting superfluous punctuation

I hate to say it ( actually I'm feeling arsey so maybe I don't ) but to me it instantly renders any point you may be arguing as invalid by making you look like an illiterate tosser

Anyone?

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

The triple (or even quadruple) full stop is acceptable and called an ellipsis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsis

Multiple commas or, worse, multiple exclamation marks, are indeed signs of an illiterate tosser.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

I notice you have a triple punctuation in your loacation there ?? - Is it just quadruples that arent good ;) :D

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

I'm an habitual user of the triple full stop as an ellipsis, but a quadruple full stop...? No idea.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

You mean . . . ellipses????

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

Don't know why some people use four periods (full stops) but three are called ellipsis. But I'm sure you knew that. ;)

From Wikipedia "The triple-dot punctuation mark is also called a suspension point, points of ellipsis, periods of ellipsis, or colloquially, dot-dot-dot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsis

Oops I see Novo and others beat me to it.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

Ooh! Good spot. I hadn't noticed. :rofl:

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

Ah perhaps I was aware of the full stop thingy ( but not the name)
I have a suspicion that the average user of said punctuation notation isnt :)

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

The quadruple commas seem to appear in posts which are completely unintelligible. To be honest, they frighten me.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

They're the equivalent of yadda yadda yadda in conversation and are very useful for manipulating the meaning of sentences.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

Punctuation is part of grammar, so here's another question for the Grammar Police.

Earlier in this thread I typed "an habitual..." - what are the rules for using either "a" or "an" in front of a word beginning with either a vowel or the letter "h"?

For example:

An hotel
A hospital
An holistic approach
A horrible evening
An unusual choice
A university

etc.

Or does it just boil down to 'whatever sounds correct, is correct'?

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

It comes across as more conversational in style so not a problem for me on things like BE, FB. I don't bother to count my ... ;)

Not sure I would appreciate it as much in formal letters.

Personally I never really feel that I have been shouted at by upper case, yet that seems to be the accepted interpretation. Perhaps this is because my first mobile phone could only do upper case.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

Me too. Maybe we could start a support group!

I had noticed a link between the number of consecutive commas and the lack of coherent posting. Which led me to wonder if there was a trendy new hip thing that I was missing!

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

Isn't it "a hotel"????

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

...
http://smosapparel.com.au/images/pro...iption/121.jpg

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

You would use 'an hotel' only because in French the 'h' is not sounded. Most people would say 'a hotel' and I think this would still be correct.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

My Nan taught me that it was based on the spelling of the first letter. If it was a vowel then use "an", otherwise use 'a'. 'H', being spelled 'aitch' meant I had to use 'an' in front of words beginning with 'h'.

It's probably more complicated than that, more than my attention span stretches to...

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

More importantly in Canada

A hockey game or an 'ockey game? :rolleyes:

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

I think it is often explained as 'an' prior to a silent 'h'.

Now that leaves something to be desired as a guide to someone learning English as a second language or to children with accents!!! :p

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

Also, isn't the use of etc another way of saying "i really have nothing more to add but maybe this looks like i do"?

Cos that's why i use it

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

Not really - I use it if I cant be arsed writing out valves , fittings , adapters, plugs and flanges when I can just write - Valves etc :thumbup:

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

yay!!! :o


ironic [aɪˈrɒnɪk], ironical
adj
of, characterized by, or using irony
ironicalness n

ironic - Something is ironic if the result is the opposite of what was intended; an ironic event is an incongruous event, one at odds with what might have been expected.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003...

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

You're welcome.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

I am one that uses it, and have for years, I also know what and how it is used in a sentence, do I get a prize? :)

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

That had me laughing so hard, that I had coffee coming out of one nostril.

I am with all on this one. Anymore than 3 "..." is greedy.

Slightly on topic - You're v Your when shortening from "you are" drives me up the proverbial wall.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

One can avoid making such faux-pas by inserting an adjective beginning with a consonant, thus rendering the conundrum void:

E.g. instead of asking, "Let's find a/an hotel", I would gracefully dodge the dilemma by saying, "Let's find a fkn hotel." That way, people won't look down on you for poor grammar.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

Sound advice I hope everyone will follow...

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

Google Chrome users can install afterthedeadline, an add-on, that checks and corrects grammar and spelling (it works on expats, I just tried it, and it also works on blog sites, twitter, Facebook etc).

It told me that "An hotel" should be "a hotel". It told me that "should be" is in passive voice and should be in active voice. It also told me that the correct cliche is cliché and it even offered to fix that for me.

I think I like it.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

If it told you "should be" is in passive voice, it's talking out of an inappropriate orifice. "Should" is a modal verb, expressing obligation or expectation, and is absolutely in the active voice (though, strictly, also in the subjunctive mood since it's an indirect quotation). Strip out both the obligation and the reported speech, and the sentence becomes "An hotel is a hotel." Seems pretty active to me.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

You'll be happy to know that it reported no errors (grammatical or spelling) in your reply (well, apart from the "should be" passive issue).

Now, if only it had a button that expands txt speak into English and a "Dumb Down" feature that could convert stuff like that in your reply, and everything DBD33 says, into something I can actually and easily understand.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

It doesn't really "drive you up a wall", it makes you feel superior, so embrace those little victories and a life unexamined is a more comfy road to tread. I'm quite sure the vagaries of the English language will trip all but the very . . . etc etc etc.

Anyway it's all just style. Don't be constrained by the, constraints of grammar!

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

Three errors reported!

Avoid "drive you up a wall"
Clichés are phrases used so much they lose their original power. Try revising the meaning of this phrase using your own words. It will make a stronger impact on your reader.

----

Try a simpler word for quite
Where possible you should use a simple word over a complex word. Simple words are easier to read and let your readers focus on your ideas.

Replace quite with

(omit)

----
Repeated word: etc etc etc

Replace etc etc etc with etc

-----

Is this annoying?

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

You're programme is an arse. :p And while I generally try to use simplier words for you lot, I can't quite see how 'quite' is complicated, conversational definitely, but complicated? Do you have your add-on set on the Vicky Pollard setting?

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

I did check all the boxes in the options menu.

This add-on is empowering and saves my precious time (I didn't have to Google "simplier words", it told me you were just trying to say "simpler words").

God it is annoying though, isn't it? And no, it didn't catch "You're programme"

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

That would be "The Good Old Hockey Game" :)

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

In grammatical terms, is that an oxymoron?

Also in grammatical terms does "Is that an oxymoron?" mean the same thing as "Is that not an oxymoron?". Please explain... :confused:

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

A simpler word for 'quite'.... seriously? wtf:confused:

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

tis me im afraid....i always use this.... not because im trying to be clever...im just not wearing my glasses...so i do it so i can see what im writing.

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

I have a spell chequing devise what also corrects, grammar and, sentense structure. I think many peeple on here should in vest in one. Chuffing retards :thumbdown:

Re: Quadruple punctuation
 

THIS is the Good Ol' Hockey Game! :p