Language tips

Q: Please explain the meaning of ellipsis and how it is used.

A: Ellipsis is a Greek word describing a grammatical device, the omission of language. You probably often use ellipsis in your writing even if you cannot define it. For example if you are asked, “Where shall we have lunch?” and you answer, “At a fast-food restaurant,” you are omitting the words, “We'll have lunch.” at the beginning of your answer. That is ellipsis.

In a dependent clause, essential words are often omitted. In the sentence, “Whenever possible, I eat my lunch at my desk,” you are using ellipsis because you have omitted the words, “it is” in the first (dependent) clause. But sometimes using ellipsis in a dependent clause can be ungrammatical and ambiguous . For example, the sentence, “When four years old, my dog died,” means that the dog died when it was four years old. If you mean that you were four years old when your dog died, you cannot use ellipsis (omitting the language “I was”) in the dependent clause. You must include it. (“When I was four years old, my dog died.”)

When you use ellipsis in quoted material, the rule is somewhat more complicated and not unanimous. The traditional rule was that if you omit words within a quoted sentence, you should use ellipsis marks (three spaced periods, with a space before and after each period) to indicate the omitted language. For example, had I used ellipsis in quoting the previous sentence, it would have been punctuated as follows: “If you omit words within a quoted sentence, you should use ellipsis marks . . . to indicate the omitted language.”

If you omit language at the end of the quotation, indicate the omission by three spaced ellipsis marks followed by a period with no space, to indicate the end of the sentence. In his resignation speech, President Richard Nixon said, “However, it has be--come evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in Congress.” That statement was widely circulated as having been, “However it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base . . ..”

To indicate the omission of one or more entire sentences in quotations, place a period immediately following the final sentence before the omitted material; then use ellipsis marks (. . .) to indicate the omission of one or more sentences. “I never intended to become a celebrity. . . . I am sorry I have become one.”

However, a more modern method of punctuation has been adopted within the last two decades. Many publishers, in an effort to use space economically, place the ellipsis dots together as if they were one word, with a space at the beginning and one at the end ( ... ): “According to the report, there has been a change in profits made by large corporations, which has been large enough to become noticeable.” This becomes (with ellipsis) “According to the report ... a change in profits made by large corporations ... has become noticeable.”

Q: In your October “Language Tips, ” you discussed the meaning of well in phrases like well-qualified. Now, please discuss the use of well or good after regular verbs. I know that, conventionally, these verbs should be followed by adverbs, but sloppy language has resulted in the answer, “I'm doing good,” in answer to the question, “How are you doing?”

A: Chicago attorney David L. Hanson, who asked this question, gave as another example of “sloppy language” young people's use of “he goes” to mean “he said.” Perhaps, like many neologisms, it will disappear as this generation matures into adulthood.

Young people, especially, like to play with language, creating new words or new meanings for existing words. Remember, when you were young, the “new” meaning for swell, or if you were born more recently, the use of neat for what the newer generation calls cool, and what teenagers now characterize as wicked. (This last adjective casts a new light on Cinderella's wicked stepsisters!) Neologisms like these often disappear, but when they do not, they become acceptable, while the generations that deplored them disappear.

The answer to the question, “How are you doing?” (more frequently, in these parts, pronounced, “How yuh doon?”), is almost always, “Good.” (The alternative response is “Okay,” but hardly ever “well.”)

But, of course, “well” is correct. The regular verb do, like all regular verbs, requires an adverb following it. Only a few verbs are followed by adjectives, like good, instead of adverbs. These are verbs that indicate the senses (verbs like be, sound, look, smell, taste), or “linking verbs” (be, become, seem, appear) that are appositives. The test that grammarians use to explain whether the verb in question is followed by an adjective instead of an adverb is whether a form of the verb be can be substituted. “He appears happy,” is correct because you could substitute, “He is happy.” Even regular verbs can sometimes be followed by adjectives if the test applies; for example, “Despite her age, she remains young in spirit.”

Many (especially) older and educated users retain conventional grammar, but this relatively short discussion indicates why others don't bother. To be fair, the only strong argument in its favor is grammatical propriety. The rule is complicated enough to make it difficult to apply it quickly in the stream of conversation, and my guess is that in near future it will be observed only in formal, written documents–if at all.

That response is guaranteed to please nobody. Some readers will accuse me of being too permissive; others will complain that I am too restrictive.” Which reminds me of an anecdote that I believe is attributed to Benjamin Franklin. When a critic accused Franklin of being a scoundrel and a rascal, Franklin responded, “On the contrary, I had always thought you were a scholar and a gentleman. Perhaps we are both wrong.”

Gertrude Block is Lecturer Emerita at the University of Florida College of Law. Her book ,”Legal Writing Advice: Questions and Answers” (William S. Hein & Co., Inc.) was published in December 2004. Ms. Block is also author of “Effective Legal Writing”, 5th Edition (Foundation Press), with an accompanying instructor's manual. She is co-author of the “Judicial Opinion Writing Manual” (published by the American Bar Association, 1991). Send questions to the ISBA Bar News – Language Tips, Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Bar Center, Springfield, IL 62701, or e-mail her at block@law.ufl.edu.