One of Fowler's examples (1926) will suffice to support the argument: Mr Dennett foresees a bright future for Benin if our officials will manage matters conformably with its 'customs', as they ought to have been (insert managed). Comparisons can also produce unacceptable sequences when unwise ellipses are attempted: The paintings of Monet are as good or better than those of van Gogh (read as good as or better than). One is again reminded that an understood element must be identical with the one it matches, or at any rate be very closely allied to it.
Here some of Fowler's examples (1926) may perhaps be left for discussion. Some sound very antiquated; others lie in the no man's land between acceptability and rejection: e.g. The ringleader was hanged and his followers ^ imprisoned (ellipsis of were); Mr Balfour blurted out that his own view was ^ the House of Lords was not strong enough (ellipsis of that); I assert ^ the feeling in Canada today is such against annexation that [etc.] (ellipsis of that); The evil consequences of excess of these beverages is much greater than ^ alcohol (ellipsis of with). Only the first of these seems to allow the reader to proceed with minimal (or even no) discomfort. For the remainder, and for several other examples cited by Fowler, removal of the difficulty is best achieved by reconstruction, not merely by supplying the element that is intended to be 'understood'.
Ellipsis in non-standard speech. .
Non-standard speech is characterized by the use of many unfamiliar types of ellipsis. For example, American writers such as Michael Doane and E. L. Doctorow underline the nature of a particular way of speaking among the underclasses of America by employing non-standard ellipses in their speech: (omission of have) Watergate, man, Where you been?-Doane, 1988; (omission of do or can) Well how you expect to get anywhere, how you expect to learn anything?-Doctorow, 1989.
