if parenthesis : explanation, then..

[Sombrero]

...

those pesky IQ tests... what the hell does that mean?

 

[cajar]

well what's the other bit of it? like, hand is to glove like foot is to ....

parenthesis means brackets and they facilitate an explanation in text (you make it simple in here, just like this)

 

[Space cat]

If I read your post right, as in "What does ... mean", those three dots aren't parentheses; they're an ellipsis.

It's used in formal writing to show that something has been omitted from a quote, usually because the quote would otherwise be too long and the omitted material wasn't relevant anyway.

Another use is to indicate a pause in direct speed speech, as in "These ... are small. Those ... are far away.", or at the end of an incomplete sentence, eg "You don't mean ...?".

In cajar's example it's a placeholder for the answer so it's a special case of an incomplete sentence.

 

[Nige F]

Another use is to indicate a pause in direct speed speech, as in "These ... are small. Those ... are far away.", or at the end of an incomplete sentence,

or ....... The.......... near canal , The ...........far canal

 

[longdogs]

WT...F?

 

[Sombrero]

My apologies, i 'assumed' that as i was using a free IQ app, then the questions would be well known, and therefore, someone would recognise it.

The app is random, so i can't go back and find that question, so please ignore this thread.