Ellipses

This is a small thing, but still. Since Scrivener does smart quotes and em dashes, why not also let it take care of ellipses (three dots automatically becomes an ellipse). Just a thought.

I’ve added it to the list. I’ll do it as I change the educate quotes code to take into account international options.

Also, not auto-capitalizing after ellipses (just after ellipses and a period).

Huh? Sorry, what do you mean? Scrivener does autocapitalise after an ellipsis (as it should)…

But it shouldn’t always capitalize after an ellipsis; this is largely limited to the word following a period-ellipsis combination:
“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation … can long endure.”

But:
“The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it… The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”

Edit: I just re-read what I’d written in my first post in this thread, and it was unclear (that’s what I get for trying to hurriedly type a post before running out). I meant, I didn’t want it to auto-capitalize.

It is standard to have a capital letter after an ellipsis (the same as happens as in Word, I believe).
Best,
Keith

No, Word does not capitalize after an ellipsis–only after a period-elipsis combination. And every source I’ve seen, from the Chicago Manual of Style to the Prentice Hall Handbook for Writers to the New York Public Library Writer’s Guide to Style and Usage, all explicitly state that capitalization follows ellipses only under certain circumstances (almost invariably only after the combination of ellipses and final punctuation, such as a period, exclamation point, or question mark). When ellipses are used in the middle of a sentence, the following word is never capitalized. (Chicago Manual of Style, 10.48-10.63).

Chicago? What about British usage? :slight_smile: I don’t really see this as an issue, I’m afraid. When I use ellipses, it tends to be between sentences of a long passages, though I agree that you can equally use them within sentences. Dunno. Wouldn’t be hard to change, I guess, but it makes sense to me to have it capitalise after ellipses.

Scott’s right, actually, Keith. As a former magazine editor I’ve been down this road a lot. Capitals should come only after the four-dot ellipsis because the fourth dot is a period. It usually means that material has been omitted from a quoted passage that spans over more than one sentence.

Three dots can be used to indicate pauses in the midst of a sentence or to indicate material omitted in the middle of a sentence. In either case here, no capital.

Yeah, this is definitely more of an issue than I think you realize, Keith. Ellipses w/caps after are pretty much useless for me as well. It works two ways for us here in the US, at least for many of us who operate with most of the standards for the humanities, etc. I don’t know about other disciplines. I’ve edited mostly in my own field or related fields.

Here’s how it goes: ellipses between words in the same sentence, and ellipses plus period that span more than one sentence. I use the former constantly and there should definitely be no cap after them.

Maybe it could be an option to work with or without auto caps so both kinds of users could be accommodated? I know, another option in an already full pane full of them. Users! :unamused:

Gotta toss my vote in with Scott_R on this one. Aside from some uses in written speech, the ellipsis appears in three main ways: Mid-sentence … like that, in which case capitalization follows only as it would in a normal sentence (e.g. proper nouns). Ending a sentence it would normally appear as …. or … . depending on house style (with the later being the preference of most style guides) or as . … when representing numerous omitted sentences. These cases are full stops (due to the presence of a full stop) and capitalization would be appropriate. Due to the variation in usage, however, it seems improper to capitalize automatically. :slight_smile:

The Scrivener Bug. In what other forum outside of one for “Eats Shoots and Leaves” will you find people so finnicky about ellipses (and their software)?

As for at least one rather respected British usage (namely, the Oxford Style Manual [OUP 2003]):

  • If indicating dramatic, rhetorical or ironic effect, use three points, and the following word begins with a lowercase letter. (p. 129)

  • “When a complete sentence is to be folowed by omitted material, the closing full point is set close up to the preceding senence, followed by the three spaced points of omission”, and what follows is capitalized. (p. 129)

  • If the ellipsis occurs within mid-sentence of a quotation, and is meant to indicate omission (i.e. not just dramatic effect or pause), the first letter of the following word is lowercase. (p. 198)

Of course, I don’t mean to imply that Keith’s usage isn’t a respected British usage… :wink:

You beat me to it! I was curious as to whether the British usage was different, so I’d tracked down a copy of the Oxford Style Manual at a local library and was going to check tomorrow.

Well, it was just four inches in front of my keyboard, sitting in front of me. I couldn’t resist, really… :slight_smile:

… which reminds me of a story I heard a few days ago…
'bout the Alabama Pig Farmer who was driving his pickup down the road…
and passed a Bar and Grill sign, advertising the daily special. It read…
Special Tonight
Lobster Tail and Beer
$6.99

“Hot Diggity!” said the Pig Farmer, “My three favorite things!”

:unamused: