Drifting off into thoughtful silence...

Those little three dots/full stops are rarely used, which is a shame.
If only...
The trouble is that once you have discovered them, it is hard to stop.
I understand that alcohol is very similar...
And chocolate too...



There are three ways to use this excellent trick.

“Helen, I lov...” With that, Roberto fell back dead. He could not go on.

The second one is that you need not go on.

“Global warming is real,” Greta Thunberg proclaimed. “Polar bears are balancing on tiny icebergs. Penguins are being eaten by seals. The Maldives are sinking. Venice is under water. And then there are the fires in Australia, Florida and California...”
She had made her point. To continue would be to insult her audience.

The third way is that you want the audience to pause and think.

“OK. So you say that smoking cannabis is good for your health. I wonder if you have ever seen any smoker's lungs on the autopsy table?”
The professor sniffed. “My mother died of cancer...”

Once you have discovered these three full stops you just cannot stop. It is as catching as the exclamation mark!

She sprayed on some perfume just in case...
In case of what?
Just in case…

It is excellent for threats.

A friend of mine was working in an inner city school full of very violent boys. He was asked by the Principal to design a school motto in Latin for the new Academy. This is what he produced: “Tua Mater...”
The Principal did not have Latin so he asked my friend to explain.
It means “Your Mum...”

People on tv, especially men, when overcome with emotion often break off in the middle of a sentence, turn away and look at the floor. That is the same sort of thing.

“Tell me,” said the reporter shoving her microphone at her victim, “how do you feel now that your dog has been run over?”
“She was the best friend I have ever had. Excuse me a moment...”

Talk about the bleedin' obvious...
If only people would think before they write things...

A Level Students only:

Next time you do that Shakespeare play, count the dots! Loads of them. I won't list any of them here – you do the work yourself on this blog!
These three dots are called Aposyopesis. It just means, in classical Greek, fading away into silence...