What do we call the "repetition" construct (if it's even proper English)?

Question

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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score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 08 '12 at 22:28

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

answered Sep 08 '12 at 22:28

Jim

33,381

Oh LOL I didn't know it's called a ditto! Haha that makes total sense, thanks! – user541686 Sep 08 '12 at 22:48
@Mehrdad: Note that the marks don't work unless they're lined up directly beneath the word being dittoed. – Robusto Sep 09 '12 at 01:59
@Robusto: Yeah i tried to do that in the question. – user541686 Sep 09 '12 at 02:13

What do we call the "repetition" construct (if it's even proper English)?

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