Ellipses…
We never would have guessed there was as much to a punctuation mark, or even a plural of it, until we did a deep dive into the ellipsis.
Generationally speaking, the group spans thirty years and includes X, Y, Z and Boomers. We use ellipses. Some use them a lot and a couple not at all, but they are on the shirts. One day someone received a push notification on the Google home page that got us talking. The article documented the different ways ellipses were viewed by the different generations and was framed up almost as a warning to Boomers and some Gen Xers. Those ellipses you use might be saying a lot more than you think and sending a message you don’t intend to send. So, we decided to do a deep dive.
We had no idea it went all the way back to 1540!
Don’t worry, we’re going to this brief and keep it current.
First there are the two, the three and the four dot ellipses and all convey something a bit different.
We use three. We used three a lot in text messages accompanied by a link to a site detailing something crazy, outrageous, over the top or guaranteed to have a bad outcome. We use three on shirts for several reasons:
- To get a message across without writing a white paper on a shirt. That’s linked in the description.
- To get a message out and a potential connection made without getting the wearer assaulted, verbally or otherwise, by the mass formation damaged, congenitally angry and otherwise deranged crowd.
- To get a message out with minimal but understood verbiage. If you know, you know…
- Links to associated inspiration, source and educational material will be provided in the product description.
This started years ago a kind of sharing of the outrage of the day, week, month or year. We covered everything from Geopolitical, Global Macro, careers and cubicle life to board sports and trips. Then came COVID. We had no idea it would get this crazy. We went from two weeks off work and a stemy check to crazy town. I mean a guy a quarter of a mile offshore in California get snatched off a paddleboard for not wearing a mask!
Anyway, we looked into ellipses and found that they have been around a long time. Lately there seems to have developed several conflicting opinions surrounding their use, not surprisingly divided by today’s generations.
Regardless of the generational opinions on ellipses, we use them and here’s why. We live in a Fourth Turning world now. There is almost no room for compromise or live and let live anymore. We’re encouraging people to find their tribe. This could be a “triggering” idea for the unstable out there. We have a POV as well as our mantra of Find Your Tribe and Better Find Your Tribe but we’re not interested in putting a target on anyone just for enjoying our shirts or doing what they can to survive, thrive and enjoy life in this world so the dots are our friends. They help us shorten the message, lay it between the lines when necessary and keep our “if you know, you know” or “you may want to consider this” vibe alive.
Some day we want to be able to drop the “Better” from the message but until then this is how we’ll roll.
Thanks for taking the time!
AI breakdown by generation:
Gen Y (Millennials) occupies a unique middle ground regarding ellipses. While Gen Z views three dots as a sign of passive aggression or hesitation, Boomers use them merely to indicate a trailing thought or pause. Many Millennials find themselves caught in the crossfire, occasionally using them to connect sentences but frequently misinterpreting the older generation's heavy, mid-text use. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
A closer look at how different generations use and perceive "dot dot dot" explains where the disconnect lies:
The Generational Breakdown
- Boomers & Gen X: Older generations often use ellipses as "conversational bridges" or visual pauses. This habit dates back to handwriting/postcards and early cell phone text limits, where users had to string multiple informal thoughts together without sending separate messages. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
- Gen Y (Millennials): As "digital translators," Millennials often text using "lol" or proper sentence-ending punctuation. While older Millennials might use ellipses to soften a tone or signify a lingering thought, they frequently misinterpret messages from older superiors or parents (e.g., "Thanks...") as ominous or passive-aggressive. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- Gen Z: Younger texters view the ellipsis as an ominous bridge to nowhere, signaling irritation or hesitation. Gen Z prefers pressing 'Enter' for line breaks or using em-dashes to signify an actual conversational trail-off. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Why It Causes Friction
The miscommunication stems from what linguists call the "maxim of quantity". For younger texters, an ellipsis at the end of a short sentence adds unwarranted information that must mean something (e.g., "I'm annoyed" or "Wait for the bad news..."). For an older texter, it is merely a relaxed, informal way to end a thought. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
- The Millennial Translation: According to discussions on platforms like Upworthy, when a Boomer texts "Let me know...," they are casually leaving the door open for you to reply. When a Gen Z or Millennial texts the same, it implies a dramatic, trailing-off silence. [1]
- Differing Empathy: Because Gen Y grew up in the transition from dial-up to modern chat apps, they are more likely to notice the punctuation gap.
Gen Z views the use of ellipses (...) in text messages as a sign of hesitation, irritation, or passive-aggression. While older generations use them as casual thought separators or pauses, younger users find this punctuation ominous because they prefer to separate distinct thoughts into individual text messages. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Here is why this generational texting divide exists:
- The Pay-Per-Text Era: Older generations developed the habit of using ellipses in the days of early SMS, when they were charged by the message. The dots acted as a space-saving way to cram multiple ideas into a single text. [1, 2]
- The "Line Break" Standard: Because Gen Z grew up with unlimited texting, they naturally separate ideas by pressing "enter" and sending multiple rapid-fire messages. [1, 2]
- Differing Interpretations: To Gen Z, proper grammar rules dictate that ellipses represent an awkward pause or something purposefully left unsaid (e.g., "That's nice..."). This leads to confusion when an older person uses them entirely innocently.