A vertical truncation jquery plugin.

vtruncate.js

$.fn.vtruncate = function(opts) {
    opts = opts || {};
    var showTitle = opts.showTitle || false,
        truncText = opts.truncText || "…",
        split = [" ",""];
    this.each(function() {
        var $el = $(this),
            oldtext = $el.attr("oldtext") || $el.text(),
            txt, cutoff;
        if ($el.attr("oldtext")) {
            $el.text(oldtext);
        }
        $el.attr("oldtext", oldtext);
        for (var i in split) {
            delim = split[i];
            txt = oldtext.split(delim);
            cutoff = txt.length;
            var done = (this.scrollHeight - this.offsetHeight) < 2,
                chunk = Math.ceil(txt.length/2), oc=0, wid, delim;
            while (!done) {
                $el.html(txt.slice(0,cutoff).join(delim)+truncText);
                wid = (this.scrollHeight - this.offsetHeight);
                if (wid < 2 && chunk == oc) {
                   done = true;
                } else if (wid > 1) {
                   cutoff -= chunk;
                } else {
                   cutoff += chunk;
                }
                oc = chunk;
                chunk = Math.ceil(chunk/2);
            }
        }
        if (showTitle) {
            $el.attr("title", oldtext);
        }
    });
    return this;
};