On Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 9:18 PM, Chris Angelico <ros...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 12:06 PM, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn > <pointede...@web.de> wrote: >> Please use `[...]' or `[…]' to indicate omission instead. I could have >> written `politeness...' myself. > > Incidentally, how _do_ the square brackets help?
The square brackets clarify that the ellipsis was not part of the original quotation but was added at some later point. > Can a reader know > that you put square-bracketed dots and that I didn't omit a lengthy > quoted string? Irrelevant. Why would an author adhering to common principles of style ever use square-bracketed dots in a statement that he authored himself? And if instead your quotation had been of Thomas also quoting a third party, then it would not be important whether you or Thomas had added the omission -- the main point is that it wasn't there originally. Be that as it may, the MLA no longer requires square brackets around an ellipsis of omission, so at least from a scholarly standpoint you're off the hook. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
