3 Dots

Three dots in a row within text are known as leaders or as an ellipsis. Example:

...

The individual dots within leaders are sometimes referred to as periods or full stops.

Often, leaders can be typed on a keyboard, one dot at a time. Leaders can also be published with an HTML entity (choice of two, actually).

An HTML entity is used within web pages, generally (but not always) to print an unusual character, one that is not available on the keyboard. It might be better named as an HTML character, but the internet pioneers used the word "entity."

To help you recognize an HTML entity, it begins with an ampersand ("&") and ends with a semi-colon (";"). In between the ampersand and the semi-colon are a series of keyboard characters that tell the browser what character to print.

Sometimes, typing individual dots instead of using an HTML entity is inappropriate. Examples:

• Where automatic line-breaks might occur between dots.

• Typing 3 dots in a row generally takes up either less or more space than an HTML entity does. It depends on the font family.

Two HTML entities are available for publishing 3 dots as one character.

• … (publishes …) is the toughest for me to remember. Why the leading "h", I wonder, when I try to think of the HTML entity while I am typing. The "h" in front somehow throws my mind's association with the word "ellipsis" all awry.

• … (publishes …) is the one easiest for me to remember. The leading "m" can be associated with the word "make" and the rest as an abbreviation of "leaders".

With at least some type faces, both … and … publish visually identical characters. Generally, typing 3 dots in a row is different than using either of the HTML entities.

Here is an example of the three ways with your text font being used to read this article.

... (typed as 3 separate dot characters)
… (typed as HTML entity …)
… (typed as HTML entity …)

And here is an example of the three ways with your default monospace font.

... (typed as 3 separate dot characters)
… (typed as HTML entity …)
… (typed as HTML entity …)

If you know the font and software that will be used to read your document, it is easier to decide whether to type 3 dots or use one of the HTML entities.

For when the font or the software are unknown, using either … or … may be a prudent decision.

(This content first appeared in Possibilities newsletter.)

Will Bontrager