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I recall seeing the word "Ends." placed at the end of documents to indicate that, obviously, nothing else follows. Is this acceptable standard usage? It feels rather archaic (not that that's necessarily a bad thing), although it does serve a purpose. Are there any alternatives?

Example usage can be found here.

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I don't think I've seen this. Do you remember where you saw it - ie. what form of writing it was? – Kate Sherwood Jul 14 '11 at 15:39
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Could this be the same as "FIN" that you sometimes used to see at the end of films? – Craig Sefton Jul 14 '11 at 19:01
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Context would really help here - screenplays? Tech writing? Newspaper columns? Long-form graffiti? Even if it's a common convention, it's probably a convention only in a very specific context. – Standback♦ Jul 14 '11 at 21:30
@Craig: "Fin" is just the French word for "End". So "Fin" in French -language movies is the same as "The End" in old English-language movies. – Roy Dictus Jul 15 '11 at 12:15
@Roy Yes, I knew what it meant, but I've seen it in English films, too. – Craig Sefton Jul 15 '11 at 13:53
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migrated from english.stackexchange.com Jul 14 '11 at 15:09

4 Answers

up vote 1 down vote accepted

It is part of the standard way of finishing a press release. Some of these formal documents still use these conventions.

It comes, I think, from the time when press releases came on a teleprinter, and it was important to mark the end, so that it was clear to the recipient that the entire release had been received.

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up vote 5 down vote

I've seen two or three hash marks ## or -30- at the end of press releases and news articles.

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"-30-"? Intriguing. What's that for? – Standback♦ Jul 14 '11 at 21:31
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@Standback - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E2%80%9330%E2%80%93 – Craig Sefton Jul 14 '11 at 21:40
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and the three Xs became three hash marks, as above. – Lauren Ipsum Jul 14 '11 at 23:58
up vote 3 down vote

It's usually a full square that ends fx a news article. I believe there exist different kinds of text ending marks for different writing cultures, styles and genres. Take a look at these:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080903084042AAakPtI

http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/intermediate/a/endsigns.htm

http://desktoppub.about.com/od/glossary/g/End_Sign.htm

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oh, a printer's dingbat. I never thought of that, but you're right. It does indicate the end of a piece, or an article within a larger publication. – Lauren Ipsum Jul 17 '11 at 0:48
And used in many ways - also in fx mathematic proofs or ending scientific examples. – Steeven Jul 24 '11 at 14:52
up vote 0 down vote

### and --30-- are/were used as industry-specific conventions to standardize and add quality controls to copy.

fin and various ornamental dingbats are used on the finished product, for the viewers help in recognizing the end of an article, book, section, chapter, film, etc. Again, certain conventions are established for each industry, and of course these evolve with time.

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