The ellipsis is a form of punctuation
Thus it falls within my purview. The Modesto Kid writes in to ask:
I don't totally understand the convention, when transcribing dialogue, of having a pause between two things one character says indicated by showing the other character as saying "ellipsis". Does it mean he sighs? What is the difference between
Me: Yeah… But it's a cavity. How can you remove it?
Boss: …
Me:I guess they could fill it in. But with what?
and
Me: Yeah… But it's a cavity. How can you remove it?...I guess they could fill it in. But with what?
or even,
Me: Yeah… But it's a cavity. How can you remove it? [awkward pause] I guess they could fill it in. But with what?
I am pleased to provide an answer! It accords rather nicely with the one given already, actually (it's like a camera cutting to the other person who's expressionless, then cutting back to the speaker who continues.
), so perhaps I don't really have any cause to give my own answer, except that I was promised hoarded jewels.
Each of the three options, plainly enough, means something different. Let's start with the middle one: Here, the speaker, one Stanley, is the one hesitating; he's thinking to himself, perhaps, what they might do. We have no notion what his boss is doing. Waiting expectantly? Rolling his eyes? Doesn't come up. In the third case the awkward pause is shared between both participants (awkward pauses by their nature are shared, or at least experienced as shared), and what comes after must be understood in the context of that preceding awkwardness. Here an [awkward pause] makes no sense; what was awkward about the exchange? In the first case, as already noted, the attention is turned to Boss, whose nonreaction in the face of some sort of expected reaction, or lack of understanding, or nonplussedness, is emphasized. We can imagine Stanley posing the question and looking towards Boss for some acknowledgement, receiving none, and soldiering on.
Comments
on 2007-07-27 0:30:49.0, The Modesto Kid commented:
Good explanation, thanks. The doubloons are in the mail.
and, further, on 2007-07-27 0:33:01.0, The Modesto Kid commented:
(I think I understood that distinction to begin with -- and was just making trouble -- but could not put it into words. You and Stanley have helped in that regard.)
and, further, on 2007-07-27 20:05:05.0, bitchphd commented:
awkward pauses by their nature are shared, or at least experienced as shared
This seems true, but it isn't. I might experience a pause as awkward, while you might experience it merely as a pause, or even as a comfortable silence.
By the same token, even intimacy isn't necessarily shared; if you experience a comfortable silence as intimate, while I experience the same silence as awkward, neither of our experiences cancels the other one out. We are merely experiencing the same moment differently.
and, further, on 2007-07-27 20:21:13.0, ben wolfson commented:
I grant that awkward pauses might not actually be shared, that's why I put "experienced as shared". I could back down from that, too, but it doesn't seem that implausible.
and, further, on 2007-07-27 21:26:29.0, bitchphd commented:
Try "often."