Definition:
A mark of punctuation (•) commonly used in business writing and technical writing to introduce items in a list (or series).
See also:
Etymology:
From the Latin, "ball"Examples and Observations:
- "Bullets (•) mark items in a list. If a sentence follows the bullet, place a period at its end. Words and phrases that follow bullets need no ending punctuation. It is never necessary to place the conjunction and before the [last] item in a bulleted list."
(M. Strumpf and A. Douglas, The Grammar Bible. Owl, 2004) - "When you don't mean to imply that one thing in a list is any more important than another--that is, when you're not signaling a rank order--and when there is little likelihood that the list will need to be cited, you might use bullet dots. They enhance readabiluty by emphasizing salient points. . . .
"Here are . . . more tips on using bullets well: (1) end your introduction with a colon, which serves as an anchor; (2) keep the items grammatically parallel (see PARALLELISM)."
(Bryan A. Garner, Garner's Modern American Usage. Oxford Univ. Press, 2003) - "The most effective communication at work is not the bulky memo, but the bullet-riddled PowerPoint presentation, which people from varied nationalities can absorb in very little time."
(A. Giridharadas, "Language as a Blunt Tool of the Digital Age." The New York Times, Jan. 17, 2010) - The idea is simply to end by design rather than default, and any of the following practices will help:
- In your notes, keep track of potentially dramatic closing materials.
- Hold one of your best examples or anecdotes for the closing.
- Allow space for a developed ending.
- Commit to a closing worthy of the piece.
- Avoid the drift toward a clichéd ending.
- "The most common problem with bulleted lists is an absence of parallel construction. If the first bulleted item is a declarative sentence in the present tense, the rest should also be declarative sentences in the present tense. Each item must be a continuation of the introductory sentence . . .."
(Bill Walsh, Lapsing Into a Comma. Contemporary Books, 2000)
Pronunciation: BUL-it
Also Known As: bullet point
