Page 171 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking

When using a partial quote, use an ellipsis or a bracketed ellipsis, with a
space on each side, to show where you removed text. An ellipsis is a single

character made of three periods that indicates an elision or deletion.

■ As Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address, “We here highly resolve

that these dead shall not have died in vain [. . .] and that government
of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the
earth.”

16.11 Parentheses and Brackets

In formal linguistics terminology, the act of setting off text with any kind of
punctuation—commas, em dashes, brackets, and so on—is called parenthesis.

Here, though, we are referring to the punctuation known as parentheses (the
plural form of parenthesis).

Parentheses add information that isn’t as important as the text surrounding it,

and set it off accordingly. If it were any less important, it might become a
footnote. If it were any more important, it might be set off with em dashes or

commas.

■ Barrett, Minnesota (population 410), is the seat of Grant County.

■ Naoma Barrett (née Hopkins) was born in 1910.
■ The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) wants to
land people on Mars.

■ LOL (an acronym for Laugh Out Loud) has spawned the word “lulz,”

which are what you feel when you do something pointless for fun.
■ My cats (Whopper and Bianca) have very different personalities.

Parentheses can also be used to enclose meta-commentary or thoughts on

what was just written.

■ I fear the end of the manuscript (for without its misery, I shall have

nothing to fight against).