Dear Uncle Jay:

When I read the news, sometimes they put three periods in the middle of a paragraph, like this: “…” .  Sometimes it’s even in the middle of a sentence.  I see it all the time.  Is it on purpose, and what does it mean?

Dear Arlene:   First of all, congratulations for actually reading.  Those three periods are called an “ellipsis.”  An ellipsis means that the news people removed part of what somebody said, so you don’t have to read as many words.  For example, if Hillary Clinton says, “My health care plan uses a community of medical professionals to develop a realistic system that covers all Americans,” Fox News might condense it to: “My health care plan uses a commun … istic system that covers all Americans.”