The ellipsis is also called a suspension point, points of ellipsis, periods of ellipsis, or (colloquially)
"dot-dot-dot".Depending on their context and placement in a sentence, ellipses can indicate an unfinished
thought, a leading statement, a slight pause, an echoing voice, or a nervous or awkward silence. Aposiopesis is
the use of an ellipsis to trail off into silence—for example: "But I thought he was..." When placed at the end
of a sentence, an ellipsis may be used to suggest melancholy or longing.
The most common forms of an ellipsis include a row of three periods or full points ... or a precomposed
triple-dot glyph, the horizontal ellipsis …. Style guides often have their own rules governing the use of
ellipses. For example, The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style) recommends that an ellipsis be formed by
typing three periods, each with a space on both sides . . . , while the Associated Press Stylebook (AP style)
puts the dots together, but retains a space before and after the group, thus: ... .Whether an ellipsis at the
end of a sentence needs a fourth dot to finish the sentence is a matter of debate; Chicago advises it,as does
the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style),while some other style guides do
not; the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and related works treat this style as optional, saying that it "may" be
used.