Dash or Ellipsis When a Speaker Trails Off
The Dash
Rulebase Summary
When a person trails off and does not finish a sentence, use a dash or ellipsis. When the word 'but' is used before the trailing off, put no punctuation before 'but' and a dash or ellipsis after it. When the word 'so' is used before the trailing off, put a semicolon or a period before 'so' and a dash or ellipsis after it. The choice between dash and ellipsis is a style preference.
Examples
A. I thought about calling, but.
A. I thought about calling but --
No comma before 'but'; dash after trailing off.
A. He was already gone, so.
A. He was already gone; so --
Semicolon before 'so'; dash after trailing off.
Transcript Notes
The use of the ellipsis to show trailing off has gained favor in many segments of the court reporting community. Many reporters want to distinguish between a speaker who trails off (ellipsis) and one who is interrupted (dash). Avoid creative variations such as a dash followed by a period, a dash with the space removed, or a dash with an extra hyphen — these should not be used.
Style Guide References (5)
BGGP
BGGP
BGGP
BGGP
BGGP