Dinkus

{{Short description|Typographic device ( * * * ) to indicate a change}} {{confused|Dingus (disambiguation){{!}}Dingus|Dingbat}} [[File:Painted Veil Page 68.jpg|thumb|alt=Asterisms in use|Three asterisks as a dinkus in the James Huneker novel ''Painted Veils''. This dinkus accentuates the end of a particularly racy chapter, priming the reader for the change in tone.]] {{Contains special characters|Uncommon Unicode}}

In typography, a '''dinkus''' is a typographic device or convention that typically consists of three spaced asterisks or bullet symbols in a horizontal row, e.g.  {{nbsp}}∗{{nbsp}}∗{{nbsp}}∗{{nbsp}}  or  {{nbsp}}•{{nbsp}}•{{nbsp}}•{{nbsp}} . The device has a variety of uses, and it usually denotes an intentional omission or a logical "break" of varying degree in a written work. This latter use is similar to a subsection, and it indicates that the subsequent text should be re-contextualized. Such a dinkus typically appears centrally aligned on a line of its own with vertical spacing before and after the device. The dinkus has been in use in various forms since {{circa|1850}}.<ref name="Grammar Book" /><ref name="Shady Punctuation" /> Historically, the dinkus was often represented as an asterism, {{char|⁂}}, though this has fallen out of favor and is now nearly obsolete.<ref name="D13">{{cite book |first1 = Radim |last1 = Peško |first2 = Louis |last2 = Lüthi |year = 2007 |title = Dot Dot Dot 13 |page = 193 |publisher = Princeton Architectural Press |editor1-first = Stuart |editor1-last = Bailey |editor2-first = Peter |editor2-last = Bilak |isbn = 978-90-77620-07-6 }}{{full|date=March 2024}}</ref>

==Etymology== The word was coined by an artist on the Australian periodical ''The Bulletin'' in the 1920s and is derived from the word ''dinky''.<ref name="Macquarie" />

==Usage==

The dinkus is used for various purposes, but many of them are related to an intentional break in the flow of the text.

===Subsection break===

A dinkus can be used to accentuate a break between subsections of a single section.<ref>{{Cite web |url = http://www.thenewsmanual.net/Resources/glossary.html#D |work = The News Manual |title = Glossary }}</ref> A dinkus dividing a larger section<ref>{{cite book |title = The Christian Writer's Manual of Style |first = Robert |last = Hudson |year = 2010 |page = 386 }}{{full|date=March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url = https://www-orthotypographie-fr.translate.goog/volume-I/alliage-avertissement.html?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en#Asterisque |title = D'Alliage à Avertissement — Orthotypographie, de Jean-Pierre Lacroux (Lexique des règles typographiques françaises) |website = www-orthotypographie-fr.translate.goog }}</ref> is intended is to maintain a sense of continuity within the overall chapter or section while changing elements of the setting or timeline.<ref name="Aus Editing" /><ref name="Orthotypographie">{{cite book |title = Orthotypographie |first = Jean-Pierre |last = Lacroux }}{{full|date=March 2024}}</ref> For instance, to introduce a flashback or other scene change, a dinkus can help denote the change within the overall theme of the chapter; in that case, it can be preferable to the initiation of a new chapter.<ref name="SPR">{{Cite web |url = https://www.selfpublishingreview.com/2021/08/five-ways-i-hate-your-dinkus/ |title = Five Ways I Hate Your Dinkus |date = August 26, 2021 |website = Self-Publishing Review }}</ref> This technique is used especially in literary fiction.<ref name="Aus Editing">{{cite book |title = The Australian Editing Handbook |first1 = Elizabeth |last1 = Flann |first2 = Beryl |last2 = Hill |first3 = Lan |last3 = Wang |year = 2014 }}{{full|date=March 2024}}</ref><ref name="SPR" />

===Intentionally omitted information=== {{see also|Ellipsis}} Many applications of the dinkus, including those that were common historically, have indicated intentional omission of information.<ref name="Grammar Book">{{cite book |title = A Comprehensive System of Grammatical and Rhetorical Punctuation |first = Consul Willshire |last = Butterford |year = 1858 |pages = 37, 40 |location = Cincinnati |publisher = Longley Brothers }}</ref> Such a dinkus informs the reader that the information has been omitted.<ref name="Shady Punctuation">{{cite book |title = Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks |first = Keith |last = Houston |year = 2013 }}{{full|date=March 2024}}</ref> It can also mean "untitled" or that the author or title was withheld. This is evident, for example, in some editions of ''Album for the Young'' by composer Robert Schumann (№ 21, 26, and 30).<ref>{{cite book |last = Taruskin |first = Richard |year = 2005 |title = The Oxford History of Western Music |volume = 3 |page = 311 |isbn = 978-0-19-516979-9 }}</ref>

A dinkus can also be used in any context as a simple means of abbreviation of any text.<ref name="Orthotypographie" /> The dinkus is used specifically in this capacity within the sphere of lawmaking, particularly for city ordinances. When used in legal text, the dinkus indicates an abbreviation within amendments to code while not implying the repeal of the omitted sections.<ref>{{Cite web |url = https://www.municode.com/code/page/did-you-know-dinkus |title = Did You Know? The Dinkus |website = Municode }}</ref>

===Ornamentation===

Newspapers, magazines, and other works can use dinkuses as simple ornamentation, for solely aesthetic reasons.<ref>{{cite book |title = Digital Sub-Editing and Design |first = Stephen |last = Quinn |year = 2012 }}{{full|date=March 2024}}</ref> A primarily aesthetic dinkus often takes the form of a fleuron, e.g., <big>❧</big> or a dingbat.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Elements of Typographic Style |edition = 3rd |first = Robert |last = Bringhurst |publisher = Hartley & Marks |year = 2004 |isbn = 978-0-88179-206-5 |page = 63, 290–291 |access-date = 10 November 2020 |url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780881791327/page/63/mode/2up }}</ref>

===Poetic symbolism===

In some cases, a dinkus has been employed in poetry to convey non-verbal meaning. This is exemplified in the poem ''Thresholes'' by Lara Mimosa Montes, which frequently uses a circular dinkus,  ○ , as a form of "punctuation at the level of the full text, rather than the phrase or the sentence".<ref name="NYT Ornamental">{{Cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/29/books/review/on-poetry-punctuation.html |title = How Poets Use Punctuation as a Superpower and a Secret Weapon |first = Elisa |last = Gabbert |newspaper = The New York Times |date = December 29, 2020 }}</ref>

==Variations==

Many dinkuses are composed partially or entirely of asterisks. Other symbols include a series of dots,<ref>{{cite book |last = Lundmark |first = Torbjorn |title = Quirky Qwerty: The Story of the Keyboard @ Your Fingertips |page = 120 |date = 2002 |publisher = University of New South Wales |isbn = 9780868404363 }}</ref><ref name=Crystal>{{cite book |title = Making a Point: The Pernickety Story of English Punctuation |first = David |last = Crystal |isbn = 9781781253519 |publisher = London Profile Books |date = 2016 }}</ref> fleurons,<ref name=Crystal /> asterisms, or small drawings.<ref name="Macquarie">{{cite dictionary |dictionary=Macquarie Dictionary |location=Sydney |entry=Dinkus |quote=A dinkus is a small drawing used in printing to decorate a page, or to break up a block of type. It was coined by an artist on [Sydney's] ''The Bulletin'' magazine in the 1920s, and it is derived from the word dinky, meaning 'small'}}</ref> Esperanto Braille punctuation commonly uses a series of colons, {{bc|25}}{{bc|25}}{{bc|25}}, as a dinkus.

===Gallery===

{{Gallery |title=Dinkuses in literary works |width=160 | height=170 |align=center |File:Bohaterowie Grecji (wycinki) page 20a.jpg |A Polish translation of a French work using a series of dots as a dinkus. The dinkus separates the translator's notes from the text. |File:Bohaterowie Grecji (wycinki) page 15c.jpg |A combination of a fleuron and line-shaped dinkus in the same Polish work |File:The castle's heir - a novel in real life - DPLA - e5f157d189829d6fb7ed3afc1b1e4c72 (page 229).jpg |Mrs. Henry Wood's 19th-century novel exemplifying a line-shaped dinkus with a central diamond as a chapter break |File:Infiniteadventures-testprint-1-photo-tbf - 15 (cropped).jpg |A German novel, ''Infinite Adventures'', with an infinity symbol in triplicate as a dinkus |File:Alice in Wonderland Page 15.jpg |Lewis Carroll's ''Alice in Wonderland'', in a print of indeterminate age, features dinkuses of asterisks forming a field of stars. |File:James Joyce, Ulysses, 1ed 2pr, p240.jpg |''Ulysses'' by James Joyce uses an asterism as a dinkus in earlier prints, while newer editions replace it with three horizontal asterisks. }}

==Other uses of the term "dinkus"== {{see also|Śmigus-dyngus}}

Among older Hungarian Americans and Polish Americans, ''dinkus'' (or ''dyngus'') is an archaic term for Easter Monday.<ref>{{cite book |title = Celebrating the Family: Ethnicity, Consumer Culture, and Family Rituals |first = Elizabeth Hafkin |last = Pleck |page = 90 |isbn = 9780674002302 |publisher = Harvard University Press |date = 2001 }}</ref>

In Australian English, particularly in the news media, the word "dinkus" refers to a small photograph of the author of a news article.<ref>{{Cite web |url = https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2010/august/1280988123/les-murray/infinite-anthology |title = Infinite Anthology |date = August 5, 2010 |website = The Monthly }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url = http://theconversation.com/why-the-saturday-papers-design-breeds-disappointment-24198 |title = Why The Saturday Paper's design breeds disappointment |first = Zoe |last = Sadokierski |website = The Conversation |date = 27 March 2014 }}</ref> Outside Australia, this is often referred to as a headshot.

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * Daisy Alioto's analysis of the dinkus in ''The Paris Review'': "[https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/06/08/ode-to-the-dinkus/ Ode to the Dinkus]".

{{navbox punctuation}} Category:Typographical symbols Category:Punctuation