Although I do not know the name of the rule, I do understand that a colon is typically used to elaborate on a single thought or idea. For example:
"I love all types of burritos: Californian, Mexican, French, etc."
However, what I am wondering about is the rule for flipping this structure. Is it acceptable to have the list items first? For example:
"Californian, Mexican, French, etc: I love all burritos."
Best Answer
Although style guides typically cover lists in some detail (Chicago Manual of Style, Fifteenth Edition, for example, devotes five pages to issues involved in punctuating lists), I haven't found any style guide that talks about how to punctuate a list run in reverse. Probably this unaccustomed reserve reflects the notion that such an approach will rarely come up come up in writing destined for supervised publication. But the absence of style-guide guidance means that you don't have to look over your shoulder at a disapproving authority, regardless of how you decide to punctuate your backward list.
As a matter of personal preference, I like Edwin Ashworth's recommendation to use ellipsis points, though using an em dash or a colon instead will likewise signal that you have finished itemizing the parallel items on your list and are now prepared to say something more general about them.
One approach that has become more popular in recent years and that I detest is the series of one-word or short-phrase sentences followed by the generally applicable comment. For example:
Or to adopt your example:
I'm not sure whether writers who employ this type of punctuation think the period separations give their writing admirable gravitas, or whether they they think their readers need to digest their prose in tiny bites, or whether they think the style is cute or hip—but I've run into examples of it all too often in the past few years, and I can't think of anything positive to say about it.