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The Excellent Ellipsis (…)

The ellipsis, a punctuation mark that employs three consecutive periods (…), is used when intentionally omitting a word, phrase, or paragraph within quoted text. When summarizing information or writing articles, it is occasionally necessary to include direct quotes from your research.  You may not, however, always want to use long sentences that not only take up space, but may contain useless or irrelevant information.

When you use an ellipsis, you can take out the information that isn’t necessary while maintaining the integrity of the quoted text. For example, let’s consider a sentence from the latest AIR Blog entry “More than 200 sacred objects that were in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian were returned last week to the Yurok Tribe in northern California, as reported in an Associated Press piece published by the Times Leader on Aug. 15.”  To eliminate the excess text and indicate that some text was omitted from the sentence, we would use an ellipsis:

“More than 200 sacred objects… were returned last week to the Yurok Tribe in northern California, as reported in an Associated Press piece published by the Times Leader on Aug. 15.”

If you want to omit words at the end of a sentence, you would include an ellipsis and then an additional period. Let’s consider the same sentence, but this time leave off “as reported in an Associated Press piece published by the Times Leader on Aug. 15.”

“More than 200 sacred objects that were in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian were returned last week to the Yurok Tribe in northern California… .”

Although you may not use an ellipse in everyday emails or memos, it is important to keep in mind when writing documents or presentations that require you to cite or quote important information.

Interviewing Don'ts

All of us have likely interviewed for a job we didn’t end up getting. Unfortunately, we rarely receive feedback as to why we weren’t chosen for the position. A survey of 153 American Human Resource Managers identified the 20 most common errors made by applicants attending job interviews.

In order of importance, here is a list of reasons cited by the HR managers for why someone is not chosen for a job:

1. Poorly or inappropriately dressed
2. Overaggressive
3. Unable to express information clearly (difficulty understanding your answers to questions)
4. Lack interest and enthusiasm
5. Display no career planning
6. Seem nervous and lacking in confidence
7. Overemphasizing the importance of the pay for the job
8. Unwilling to start at the bottom
9. Make excuses
10. Lacking in tact and courtesy
11. Appear immature
12. Condemned past employers
13. Seem to have no genuine interest in the company or the job
14. Failure to look the interviewer in the eye
15. Application form poorly completed
16. Seem to lack sense of humor
17. Late for the interview
18. Failure to express appreciation for the interviewer's time
19. Failure to ask questions about the company and the job
20. Responses to questions too vague

What do you think about these reasons?  This survey was conducted in 1986.  How do you think this list has changed over the years?

Common Abbreviations

Abbreviations are meant to make our lives a little easier. By shortening frequently used words and phrases we are able to save time and convey the same information. However, some abbreviations can have tricky or inconsistent rules. Here are a few abbreviations that you might use on a regular basis when writing formal emails, memos or letters:

Titles before a name: Mr., Mrs., Ms., Prof., Dr.

Using titles before a person’s name is the proper way to formally address an individual in any written communication. You might begin a letter with the salutation “Dear Mr. Doe” or “To: Mr. John Doe.” However, when using a person’s name within the body of your message, it is not necessary to refer to an individual as Mr. John Doe. Simply use the name John Doe.

Titles after a name: Jr., Sr., Ph.D.

Using titles after a person’s name can also clarify which individual you are speaking of—for example: John Doe Sr. or John Doe Jr. You may also use this abbreviation in this way: Mr. and Mrs. John Doe Jr. However, it is not standard to use Jr. or Sr. when omitting the individual’s first name: Mr. Doe Jr.

Names of countries: U.S.A., U.K.
You can also use USA as an abbreviation for the United States of America, however, if writing U.S. it is standard to always use the periods in between.

Names of states: NY, VA, MD
These abbreviations should only be used when referring to addresses on an envelope or list. When referring to the actual state within the body of a message, it is standard to write the entire name. For example: “I am going to NY for the weekend” is incorrect while “I am going to New York for the weekend” is correct.

Names of commonly used objects: TV, DVD, CD

Periods between the letters of these abbreviations are not required.

Units of measure: in., ft, lb, m, kg

Using a period after units of measure is not necessary except in the case of in. Since this unit can be confused with the word “in” it is helpful to add the period after it. There is no need to add an “s” after the unit of measure to make it plural. Also, when using the unit as a modifier such as a 10-ft wall or 3-lb weight, it is common to add a hyphen between the number and unit.

Time: A.M., P.M.

This can also be written as a.m. or p.m.

Hopefully this has shed some light on the common abbreviations we use. Are there any others that we might have missed? Or do you have any questions regarding the ones we have used here? Please comment below!