7:46 AM

My name is Holly. I have a ...problem.

Posted by Texasholly |

Yes, I am addicted to the "...".

You may have noticed.

You may even be planning an intervention.

When I look back through my blog, emails, correspondence and even my thoughts, I take note that I am obsessed with the "dot, dot, dot".

They are so cute, round and multiple. They are a perfect circle design element repeated three times. They are so dramatic in their effect. They are thought inducing, subtracting and multiplying. They are compact and can be taken almost anywhere. Oh, how I love the .... (the fourth one there is the actual period at the end of that sentence which I probably should have replaced with an exclamation point...((see how great that pause is there?)))

Which brings me to admit that this isn't the first time I have been in love with punctuation...(stop me, now)...

My first crush was with the exclamation point!

I am perky by nature so the exclamation point and I really hit it off. Oh, how I could just bring any sentence more umph, visibility, and sass by just adding one of those!

It was easy! It was effortless! It was a trap...

...because too much of a good thing depletes its value. I was over-exclaiming!

Suddenly all those really important points were lost with all the other really important points.

I just had to start saying "no" to the exclamation point. I couldn't go cold turkey. I couldn't avoid my first love completely. I have had to go on punctuation limitation.

I have self-imposed a one exclamation point rule. Only one per event. Only one saved for the most important point thoughtfully and lovingly placed.

Oh, I have flirted with the ALL CAPS and the bold. I have even been known to use the --, or in extreme cases the italics. But for now, it will be the dot, dot, dot until...

I get help.


PS: A special thanks to JCK, Meg, Madge, Burgh Baby, Rachael and Amy who may have suffered through that post twice. It originally appeared 12-7-07.

71 comments:

A Mom Two Boys said...

Me too, which is why we get along so well.

And is this a re-post? Or was it an email where we've discussed this before? We've been around each other too long.

I just can't quit you. (Gay cowboy reference completely random, because I have NO intention to quit you, but it popped into my head so I typed it and now I'm realizing that I'm the first comment so everyone is going to see this, so I should just stop typing now)

Have a lovely day.

Madge said...

.....!!!!!

.......!!!!!!!!!!!! .....!!!!! ....!!!!

...!!! !!!!! !!!!! !!! ... ... ......

!!!!.....


...


!!!!

...

Suzie said...

Me too...me..too...

Brittany said...

Deep sigh...me too...me too.

jubilee said...

Love the " . . ." and the " -- " I have to admit. Use it all the time much to my English professors' dismay. If they only knew they'd gather, en masse and demand my English degree to be revoked.

Anonymous said...

...ellipses, they're called...

I def love 'em...almost as much as I love your blog!!!

PattiLynn

EatPlayLove said...

...pure junkie here... can't help myself... so glad I'm not alone!!!

Miss Lisa said...

I can't really talk --see any of these :) on my post ;) (see I can't stop!)

Rachel said...

Hello, my name is Rachel and I suffer from the same affliction.
Let's start a club...!

Suburban Correspondent said...

I'm a semi-colon girl, myself; odd, but true.

Anonymous said...

what does it say about me that i'm addicted to them ALL...yet i'm too lazy to hit the shift key...

Elizabeth said...

OH HOLLY!!!
I lOVE your punctuation!!!
Of, course, I have the same disease...
See ya...!
E

Anonymous said...

I believe we may have been secret twins seperated by an unkind and burly maternity ward nurse...
Let's recap, shall we?
My name is Heidi, but people often call me Holly.
Before I married, my initials were HH.
I love marker art.
I was recognized from my blog.
I have had a coccyx injury.
And...
I forgot the last one...
What was it?...
Dang!...
Hmm... If I remember, I'll let you know...

KWolfAK said...

OOPS!!!! I have the SAME problem, and others....

Valarie Lea said...

I have been using the dot dot dot lately also. I have also been using way to many exclamation points. I sound, ok read really boring if I just put in these mandated periods. I feel like I am typing in a monotone voice. Help Help me now.

Roger Miller said...

I can't really say anything because... well, you know.

I'm just a fan of the ellipses and use it improperly all the time - TAKE THAT YOU PUNCTUATION NAZI'S! :p

Misty said...

it's easy to love. I understand it... Completely. :)

Burgh Baby said...

I'm so glad you put that note at the end . . . I was thinking it was awfully familiar!!!!

Insane Mama said...

.... They are so sexy!!!!
.... Am I turning you on??
I too, and addicted to the... and the !!! and the CAPS!
...

Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba) said...

I have the same... um... problem...

(!)

:)

Rebecca

the planet of janet said...

i ... uh ... have the same ... issue ...

complicated by a severe case of italics and CAPS and even CAPS ITALICS.

or ... is that ... ITALIC CAPS???

i'm so confused!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I have a problem with dot dot dot (...) as well - but I can happily say that I've kicked my semi colon (;) habit. It was the fix I needed to come down from my run on sentence high. I can't say that I'm totally clean this days, but I'm definitely off the hard punctuation - I've switched from the semi colon to the dash (-). I'll never do emoticons though - that stuff will kill you.

Life in the Crazy Lane said...

I'm a fan of the ellipsis myself. I also like parentheses and semicolons (because semicolons are often neglected in favor of a period). See my parentheses?

Jennifer said...

Holly...

really... is there something wrong with this kind of adiction?? Because then... I too, should seek help from it. I love the "..." ... I use it all the time. lol

great post.. made me giggle!!

xoxoxxo

Happy Campers said...

OK, now I think I'm REALLY losing my mind! I commented this morning (would have been #3 on the comments), but I checked and it's not there. Sooooo....

I swore I'd seen this post too, & thought I was having a severe case of deja vu! :) Glad you clarified at the end that it was a reprinted post. Whew. I thought I was losing my mind...or that I'd been caught in the Matrix.

Angie's Spot said...

I have an obsessive habit of overusing the exclamation point. I'm seeking help. I'm glad to know I'm not alone out there. :-)

Cynthia said...

I thought I was the only one...love...the...dot...dot...dot!

Unknown said...

Oh the ... is SO addictive!! I use it ALL. THE. TIME! (and the exclamation point too!) I think we could have quite the support group... (there I go again)

VDog said...

I lurve the ellipses. !!!!

FOR REALS, YO!!

Anonymous said...

And here I thought it was just me...

Anonymous said...

elipses are GOOD for you...as are "quotes" and (parentheticals).

Christine said...

I've had complaints about my frequent use of...not on my blog, but in emails and such.

But that's because they aren't bloggers! Us bloggers, we know the value of three periods cuddled together!

!

Lizz @ Yes, and So is My Heart said...

Must be why I love your writing so much...I'm addicted to the dots too.

And, I really like the exclamation point as well. I mean I really like it!

Okay, a cheesey comment, but it made me laugh.
Funny post.

Leanne said...

I'm laughing...

Marcy Massura said...

Are you trying to tell ME something? I think so....

I know, I know I have a real addition to the little guys...

I must stop. I must.But...

Your Pal Pinki said...

WOO HOO!!! I'm SO glad I'm not the only one...sometimes I feel SO alone...but not anymore!!! LOL : )

KG said...

I have that problem, too .... I also have the problem of the sentence fragment. Major sentence fragment problems. Major.

Jennifer S said...

I love the ellipses, too...(and parentheses). You're not alone!

See how I did that? I used ..., (), and ! Okay, never mind.

Anonymous said...

I'm a huge exclamation pointing, ellipse using, quoting and parenthetical freak. The English teacher who butchers grammar.

Louise said...

Madge is funny.

Perky people need lots of punctuation. I know it can be overused, and I try myself to limited it. But I can't. (I'm using great restraint here, but now I'm in parentheses which is another problem.)

You can try to reduce the punctuation, and the "...", but we'll love you even if you don't. At least I will... if for no other reason to than to make me feel better about myself!!!!!

(SO just kidding!)

Marci @Finding Joy in the Journey said...

I am totally with you! I often think people who read my blog must get tired of all the... yet,I continue, because some how it seems to capture the way I talk. I do often end sentances without really finishing them just simply... I feel as though there should be some sort of musical accompanyment like "dont dont dont" or "bumb bumb bumb". Yes, therapy could be needed.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

I share your addictions--the ellipse, the hyphen, the exclamation point. I must also include the semi-colon in my addiction arena; why, oh why do other people ignore you, semi-colon?!

JCK said...

No suffering here. Although you and I...well, we started Punctuation for Perkies Anonymous.

I accepted that I am POWERLESS!!!!...over punctuation and perkiness...

I would be lost without it...

Belle (from Life of a...) said...

We are soul sisters...
...dot dot dot rules...

♥.Trish.♥ Drumboys said...

LOL - yes dot... dot...dot... rules OKAY ...
that's why I love you too I am a fellow addict...

Bren said...

Gah, me too. I love th "..." Sometimes I even throw 2 extra ones in there to make sure they're seen. I'm also hooked on question marks. But I'm working on that one.

Jenny, the Bloggess said...

I'm addicted to the f word.

Shauna said...

I am addicted to the ... too! I kind of thought I invented it. what the heck.

Laski said...

Um. I don't think it would be out of line to suggest a support group for those of us who abuse the ellipses. Really . . . I don't.

MsLeti said...

So I saw your name pop up on Jen's blog, Music Mommy, so I had to jump on over here and take a peek. I was laughing so hard at this post. I love the "..." myself. I could totally empathize.

BTW...thought that was beyond cool that you two ran into each other at the aquarium.
Leti

Anonymous said...

HRH, I know that I'm new here, but at the bottom of this comment box, there are prompts to use html tags. I think that it's called 'enabling'
Good luck kicking the habit. The first exclamation point is free.

Loralee Choate said...

I am addicted to every single form of punctuation over-use that there IS.

Caps, exclamation points, ellipses, and my biggest habit-parenthesis over-use.

It's amazing I have any readers at all.

Anonymous said...

LOL My problem with punctuation is knowing when and what to use. Totally missed that class in school

Angie @ KEEP BELIEVING said...

I have become addicted to the hyphen. Or the runonword. And the fragment. Or the One. Word. Sentences. There are some things you can only express with incorrect grammar.

KEEP BELIEVING

Anonymous said...

So, YOU are to blame for my new ............... habit! I knew I pick it up somewhere in blogland but couldn't ........ pinpoint it.
Now I know where to send the therapy bill.
I have something for you on my blog!

Anonymous said...

Glad to see I'm not the only person in the world who has a ... problem. I find myself using it so often that I have rewrite emails, posts, etc after I'm done (and I'm proofing it) and realize how many times I actually used it! Ack!

Yours truly in punctuation...
Nicole

Ashley. Unscripted... said...

I hear you girl...I have the same problem...Love the blog by the way.

anymommy said...

Hilarious. And, even better is that you can inspire so much conversation on punctuation! That's awesome. I'm addicted to starting a sentence with and, which I know is all kinds of wrong.

AudreyO said...

I am laughing so hard. I use the dot dot dot all of the time, in all my written communications.

Unknown said...

Punctuation Limitation LMAO - you. are. a. riot. So glad I stopped by, and I've noticed you stopped by my place too. Works out real well. *huggies*

Anonymous said...

Oh man.. I have this problem too! And you posted about it in such a funny way. :)

Anonymous said...

um, if you decide to click over to my blog, give me a couple of hours to *ahem* fix something up...

(dammit! Can't even do a comment without them... *sigh*)

Heidi said...

I am addicted too. Just read my blog... they are everywhere. Maybe you could be my sponsor in recovery.

Emily said...

Hello! I found your blog off of Misty's blog and I can't believe how much I am already loving this blog! I think your hilarious!!!

Oh! I have the same problem with the "...", I just can't help myself!

I am going to add you to my blog roll so I can be sure to visit again soon!

Connie said...

A blogger recently criticized my excessive use of exclamation points.

And then I deleted her from my reader...

I've got to be me and she can suck it!!!!!!!!

Meg said...

I too am horribly in love with....punctuation!

Just clicked over from Jennifer at Playgroups Are No Place For Children. Glad I did...you're funny!

Danielle said...

So addicted to the dotdotdot...

Glad to find good company in all of your commenters, though!!

Came over from Jennifer at Playgroups...

(Love your layout...)

Danielle said...

I, too, am addicted to the "..."...they are so versatile!!!!!!!!!
I had a high school English teacher who wore a sweatshirt with a giant semi-colon on it....I want one!!!!!!!!!

Danielle said...

oh yeah...and if I were stranded on a desert island, the 3 things I would want to take with me???

The
.
.
.
!!!!!!!!

Danielle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Natalie said...

i do the ... thing all the time as well. and can i just say that although i am aware that HRH is probably your initials i always read it as "her royal highness". i have no idea why!

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