Punctuation pooh-poohs

[cjsmith]

This? Is not grammatically correct.
Neither? Is this.
It makes prose? Sound whiny and ineffective.
When I do this? Somebody please kick my butt.

Almost every time I see an ellipsis... a comma would be better.
Commas indicate natural pauses in speaking... as this seems to be trying to do.
If it's meant to add emphasis... it's not working.
When I do this... somebody please kick my butt.

Comma splices are another one, each of these should be a sentence, it drives me crazy when I have to read it, I never know if the writer has a point in mind, in fact I usually start to figure they don't, I'm probably guilty of all three of these too sometimes, maybe I should have been a grade-school English teacher, this kind of thing really jumps out at me, when I do this somebody please kick my butt.

I feel better now.

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

The case where a speaker would just let the words trail off, though, is exactly what it's for! "Um, didn't they... oh wait." I don't know if that usage is perfectly correct, but I know it doesn't bother me.

I also obviously don't mind ending sentences with a preposition. I know Latin couldn't do that. English can. Get over it. :-)

[sharya.livejournal.com]

It's funny, I'm probably the worst offender at the overuse of the ellipsis. I always think of using it at a time when I would imagine crickets chirping. As in, "Yeah... I don't think so."

If cricket chirping could be incorporated into the scene, then I use it.