The Linguistic Evolution of ‘Like’

Re:The Linguistic Evolution of ‘Like’ by telotortium on Monday November 28, 2016 @03:55PM (#13058320)

Language does not have the sole purpose of making direct statements of fact though. Indirectness, in reasonable portions, is perfectly legitimate, especially because you often have to feel out your interlocutor's response to each line in your conversation - arguably, this is a more sophisticated use of language than straightforward statements or questions. In its natural environment, the trailing ellipsis serves a valuable role in signaling a willingness to change your mind, or at least a sensitivity to the other party's reactions and positions. I agree that a lot of people overuse them - in most cases, you should be able to get away with just using it after your thesis, so to speak.

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Re:The Linguistic Evolution of ‘Like’ by Freak_NL on Tuesday November 29, 2016 @08:49AM (#13062979)

> Ellipses have their place, but they seem to be abused a lot.

> Ellipses have their place, but I get the impression that they are also abused a lot.

> Ellipses have their place, but aren't they also abused a lot?

> Ellipses have their place, but maybe they are abused a bit too much.

I agree, sometimes a statement needs to be softened to indicate uncertainty or just to be diplomatic, but there are many ways to do that without resorting to ambiguity. Perhaps, maybe, seemingly, ostensibly, surely, evidently; there are so many words that can help soften (or harden!) a statement, and each carries a different connotation. The ellipse on the other hand simple conveys its meaning of omission — but there is no indication of what it was that was omitted (uncertainty? rolling-my-eyes sarcasm? fatigue?).

It can come across as laziness on the writer's part — as if they couldn't be bothered to formulate their thoughts.

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Re:The Linguistic Evolution of ‘Like’ by JoeAltmaier on Tuesday November 29, 2016 @08:54AM (#13063012)

I sometimes soften a criticism here on HN simply by putting a question mark at the end?

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