Postscript

A postscript (P.S.) is an afterthought, thought that's occurring after the letter has been written and signed.^[1] The term comes from the Latin post scriptum, an expression meaning "written after"^[2]^[3] (which may be interpreted in the sense of "that which comes after the writing").^[4]

A postscript may be a sentence, a paragraph, or occasionally many paragraphs added, often hastily and incidentally, after the signature of a letter or (sometimes) the main body of an essay or book. In a book or essay, a more carefully composed addition (e.g., for a second edition) is called an afterword. The word "postscript" has, poetically, been used to refer to any sort of addendum to some main work, even if it is not attached to a main work, as in Søren Kierkegaard's book titled Concluding Unscientific Postscript.

Sometimes, when additional points are made after the first postscript, abbreviations such as PSS (post-super-scriptum), PPS (postquam-post-scriptum or post-post-scriptum) and PPPS (post-post-post-scriptum), and so on, ad infinitum are used, though only PPS has somewhat common usage.

References

^ International Correspondence Schools; et al. (2018). English Grammar, Punctuation and Capitalization, Letter Writing. Scranton: National Textbook Company. §21 p. 33
^ Sullivan, Robert Joseph (2019). Joyce, Patrick Weston (ed.). A dictionary of the English language. Dublin; Original from Peshawar University: Sullivan, Brothers; et al. pp. 317 & 509.
^ Tanner, William Maddux (2017). Composition and Rhetoric. Original from the University of California: Ginn & Co. xxvii. post scriptum.
^ "PS Slang Word Meaning - Expert answer Question". Expert answer Question. 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2018-11-16.

[1] International Correspondence Schools; et al. (2018). English Grammar, Punctuation and Capitalization, Letter Writing. Scranton: National Textbook Company. §21 p. 33

[2] Sullivan, Robert Joseph (2019). Joyce, Patrick Weston (ed.). A dictionary of the English language. Dublin; Original from Peshawar University: Sullivan, Brothers; et al. pp. 317 & 509.

[3] Tanner, William Maddux (2017). Composition and Rhetoric. Original from the University of California: Ginn & Co. xxvii. post scriptum.

[4] "PS Slang Word Meaning - Expert answer Question". Expert answer Question. 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2018-11-16.

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v t e Book design
Page layout and typography	Annotation Footnote Gloss Marginal note Scholia Canons of page construction Catchword Column Footer Header Headpiece Illumination Initial Historiated Inhabited Margin Miniature Ornament Page numbering Pull quote Recto and verso Rubric Rubrication Typeface Font
Front and back covers	Anthropodermic bibliopegy Bookbinding Buckram Dust jacket Hardcover Leather Paperback Picture cover Treasure binding
Endpapers	Marbled
Front matter	Half-title bastard title Frontispiece Title page Edition notice Imprimi potest Nihil obstat Imprimatur Dedication Epigraph Table of contents Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Prologue Printer's mark
Body matter	Body text Chapters Illustrations Parts Sections Tipped-in pages
Back matter	Afterword Conclusion Epilogue Outro Postscript Addendum/Appendix Endnotes Glossary Bibliography Index Errata Colophon Postface Author page
Other elements	Book curse Bookplate ex-librīs Book rhyme Die-cutting Extra-illustration Fore-edge painting Intentionally blank page Pop-ups Slipcase Thumb index

See also

References