Text 1874, 60 rader
Skriven 2007-05-31 18:15:55 av Ardith Hinton (1:153/716.0)
   Kommentar till text 1793 av Alexander Koryagin (SashaKo)
Ärende: Mechanics...  2B.
=========================
Hi again, Alexander!  This is a continuation of my previous message to you:

[re what incited a remark attributed to Winston Churchill]
AK>  "This is the sort of English up with which I will not put."


          Uh-huh.  It seems to me the secretary focused on rules while he was
thinking about style too.  As a prime minister in wartime Churchill had to be
able to communicate with the masses... so he used colloquial language.  And I
reckon he achieved his goal because his words are often quoted even nowadays.
"The beginner knows the rules, the expert knows the exceptions"... [chuckle].



AK>  Is it admit to use ellipsis when I want to increase the
     |Is it permissable to use the ellipsis

AK>  volume of the place where events are taking place?


          In a story you might use the ellipsis to suggest there's more going
on than meets the eye.  Is that what you had in mind?  Joe is hiking with his
buddies in the woods, for example, when suddenly he stops & says "Hey, do you
see this?  I think it might be bear tracks...."  His voice trails off because
he's wondering where the bear is now & frantically trying to remember whether
he should stand still or run away or climb a tree.  As a story teller you can
leave it to your readers to imagine for themselves what Joe is thinking.  :-)



AK>  the driver found the home they searched, stopped by the
AK>  wicket-gate, pulled out the luggage from the car and said:
AK>  "Here we are. Good luck...."


          This example definitely has the flavour of an adventure story which
promises to be exciting although some of the events may be rather improbable.
It implies that the driver knows something the passenger (a young orphan from
SomePlace Else who has been turned over to the care of a dishonest uncle?) is
unaware of or unable to change because s/he has no apparent alternative.  :-)



AK>  In this passage I want you to see that the events will
AK>  have some pause.  I give you some sense of time.  And
AK>  then I continue:

AK>  The owner of the house appeared to be an old man... etc


          In informal usage, either the ellipsis or the dash could be used to
indicate such a pause.  The orphan notices this man's age first.  What really
matters, however, is more subtle & takes more time to recognize.  And what we
are really discussing here is style, which is a very personal matter....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)