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I've sometimes seen this construct, used to avoid repetitive handwriting, but I don't even know if it's proper English.

If it is, what is the name of this construct? I have no idea what to search for when looking it up...

  • Don't forget to buy eggs.
  •  "   "  " " yogurt.
  •  "   "  " " milk.
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1
  • Questions that can simply be answered by quoting or linking to a dictionary definition are off topic here. Please see the faq to learn more about what the site is for.
    – MetaEd
    Commented Sep 9, 2012 at 4:57

1 Answer 1

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14

ditto 1: a thing mentioned previously or above —used to avoid repeating a word —often symbolized by inverted commas or apostrophes 2: a ditto mark

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  • Oh LOL I didn't know it's called a ditto! Haha that makes total sense, thanks!
    – user541686
    Commented Sep 8, 2012 at 22:48
  • @Mehrdad: Note that the marks don't work unless they're lined up directly beneath the word being dittoed.
    – Robusto
    Commented Sep 9, 2012 at 1:59
  • @Robusto: Yeah i tried to do that in the question.
    – user541686
    Commented Sep 9, 2012 at 2:13

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