Let's review.

[conuly]

This is all prompted by a few things I've seen in LJ lately, including this phrase: missing out capitals and using "..."s So, time for a review.

Ellipsis: A dot-dot-dot. There's only ever THREE dots in an ellipsis. Sometimes there appears to be four, but what you're really seeing is an ellipsis followed by a period marking the end of the sentence.
Ellipses: More than one ellipsis. I suspect this is a Greek word.

Umlaut: Two dots found over a vowel in certain languages (usually German) to indicate that the vowel is pronounced differently.
Diaresis: Among other things, two dots found over a vowel in certain circumstances to indicate that this vowel is a separate syllable from the one before it. English doesn't have umlauts.

Affect: The verb
Effect: The noun.

There may be more. Probably not, though.

Comments

[takaal.livejournal.com]

I tend to use them as a method to convey a pause. LJ (in my head) is a conversation with whichever lucky being is reading me at the moment; if I'd pause for dramatic effect when speaking, that's where the ellipsis lives. Clearly, I don't consider much of what I do out here to be "formal writing"; I don't think I ever use ellipsi (Conuly: plural check?) off LJ.

[conuly]

Ellipses. I put it up in my entry. *points* Kinda like how you have one appendix, but two appendices.