If you're texting or messaging someone and you see the ellipsis symbol pop up (often with 3 dancing or flashing dots), it means the other person is typing a new message.
Ellipsis points are periods in groups of usually three, or sometimes four. They signal either that something has been omitted from quoted text, or that a speaker or writer has paused or trailed off in speech or thought.
What is an ellipsis? An ellipsis is a punctuation mark of three dots (. . .) that shows an omission of words, represents a pause, or suggests there's something left unsaid.
The ellipsis, a row of three dots, stands for an omitted section of text. But much can be conveyed by omission. It asks the receiver of the message to fill in the text, and in that way is very coy and potentially flirty.
In logical argument and mathematical proof, the therefore sign, ∴, is generally used before a logical consequence, such as the conclusion of a syllogism. The symbol consists of three dots placed in an upright triangle and is read therefore.
Three dots (Photo Whiserkino) The three dots tattoo is a common prison tattoo that represents “mi vida loca,” or “my crazy life.” It's not associated with any particular gang, but with the gang lifestyle itself.
The character "⋮". An ellipsis (three dots) vertically aligned. It is sometimes used to communicate the continuation of a list vertically as opposed to horizontally.
When used in casual conversation, ellipses connote hesitation, confusion, and apathy — they're the most passive-aggressive of all the punctuation marks.
An ellipsis might mean, “Well this is awkward.” Those 3 dots are often used by people to express that something is awkward or uncomfortable, without actually saying so. It indicates that they think the conversation has veered into uneasy territory, and they might not feel confident enough to address it explicitly.
The dots can simply mean “Hold on, I'm typing.” It can also signify “Hey, it's my turn to speak” or “I'm responding, but this might take a minute because I have a lot to say.” All relatively neutral.
According to McCarthy (1991:43) there are three types of ellipsis, they consist of: (1) nominal ellipsis, (2) verbal ellipsis, (3) clausal ellipsis.
A different form of sincerity
Communication scholar Erika Darics has observed that the repetition of letters or punctuation marks adds intensity to messages (“stopppp!!!”). She writes that this creates “a display of informality through using a relaxed writing style.”
An ellipsis indicates that words have been omitted from a quotation. This mark consists of spaced periods. A three‐dot ellipsis indicates that you are omitting something from a sentence that continues after the ellipsis.
“We've agreed that putting a period after a one-word response in a text conveys something like abruptness, annoyance, negativity.” These findings held true with positive (“yeah” or “yup”), neutral (“maybe” or “alright”) or negative (“nope” or “nah”) responses.
Things You Should Know
She's definitely flirting if she looks at you frequently, teases you, touches you when she's excited or happy, or texts you random, funny things. She might be flirting if she laughs at your stories, calls you nicknames, makes up excuses to talk to you, or adjusts her body language toward you.
The punctuation is polite when speaking to someone older than you or above you at work, but off-putting among friends. Simply put, the inclusion of a formality in casual communication is unnerving.
There's nothing wrong with loving the ellipsis. It's great for omitting words and phrases and indicating pauses and unfinished thoughts. As with all things, though, you can have too much of a good thing. If your writing is filled with ellipses, you need to stop.
To use a period is to abruptly raise the flag of finality in a hitherto positive conversation. “It's the juxtaposition of those things,” McCulloch suggested to the BBC, “which creates that sense of passive aggression.” It's not always intentional.
An ellipsis ( ... ) consists of three evenly spaced periods and is used to indicate the omission of words or suggest an incomplete thought.
∴ (three dots) means “therefore” and first appeared in print in the 1659 book Teusche Algebra (“Teach Yourself Algebra”) by Johann Rahn (1622-1676). (the such that sign) means “under the condition that”. However, it is much more common (and less ambiguous) to just abbreviate “such that” as “s.t.”.