Two days ago I asked, “Can anyone tell me how to end a sentence after an ellipsis? Four dots? It looks so unsettled…so unfinished.” Knowing that the crowd here must be hell-bent disturbed by that open question, I hereby serve up the answer. According to the Modern Language Association’s Handbook:

When the ellipsis coincides with the end of your sentence, use three periods with a space before each following a sentence period–that is, four periods, with no space before the first or after the last.

Clear as mud.

The real question, put to me succinctly, is: Why the hell would anyone end a sentence with an ellipsis?

Not sure how to respond to that…(.)