Wolfgang, | \unexpanded\def\fourdots{{\def\periodswidth{.3em}\periods[4]}} | | \starttext | Hello\fourdots\ World\fourdots | | Hello\fourdots\ World. | \stoptext Thanks for the macro! It's almost perfect. . . . I thought I was imagining things, but the distance between the last letter of the word and the first dot actually seems to be dependent on the parameter "\periodswidth{.3em}". See the attached example. I changed it to "\periodswidth{.4em}" and then the distance is larger with \fourdots than with \ldots . The distance \ldots produces is the same as a raw period produces. If possible, I'd like the distance to be always the same as the one a raw period produces. By the way, I'm wondering where one should store personal macro files. With LaTeX (texlive-latex), ~/texmf/tex/latex/ seems to be the default place. Is ~/texmf/tex/context/ a recommended place? Ryo ------------- % % Use a large font to make the difference clearer. % \unexpanded\def\fourdots{{\def\periodswidth{.4em}\periods[4]}} \starttext Hello. World. Hello\ldots. World. Hello\fourdots\ World. Hello. World. \stoptext