Ellipses

["Segal, Betty S." <bss3 -at- PHPMTS1 -dot- EM -dot- CDC -dot- GOV>]

In reply to my earlier message, Karen Kay wrote:
<Oh, and another point--isn't it ... for an ellipsis rather than . . .?>

Regarding the spacing of ellipsis points, _The Chicago Manual of
Style_ (13th edition) says,

     "They are usually separated from each other and from the text and any
      contiguous punctuation by 3-to-em spaces . . ." (page 292, paragraph
      10.36)

     "Other spacing is measured in multiples and fractions of the basic em:
     2-em, 3-em, 4-em quads, etc; . . . and other spaces such as 3-to-em,
     4-to-em and 5-to-em (1/3, 1/4, and 1/5 of an em, respectively)." (page
     677, Glossary of Technical Terms)

     "Normal word spacing is about one-third of an em." (page 567, paragraph
      16.21)

Both the Government Printing Office's _Style Manual_ and  _Words into Type_
say to use an en quad between points of ellipsis, which would be 1/2 an em.

Because of the recommendations in these references, I have always put a
normal word space between ellipsis points. Am I wrong? What do others do?

Betty Segal
bss3 -at- phpmts1 -dot- em -dot- cdc -dot- gov


is proper to use normal word spacing between the ellipsis points.