Em Dashes

30 Aug, 2025

Someone hold my glass of wine for a moment! I need to make a public statement.

I love, and will continue to use, the Em Dash. I can't imagine life without them — they are part of the fabric of my writing style.

If you are not familiar with this little punctuation glyph, it's a long dash (don't insult it by referring to it as a hyphen!). It's used to break up a sentence, perhaps adding some additional information, or a slight change in cadence.

As well as the Em Dash (—) there's the En Dash (–). Can you spot the difference? It can be subtle and depends on the font being used. The En is marginally shorter.

Imagine my shock when I read Sal's post on the Em Dash. I was delighted to note that he is keeping his, despite Tadaima bidding bye bye, em dash in his post. Tadaima citing suggestions that the Em Dash is a classic way to spot AI generated text.

Rest assured dear reader, there is nothing artificial about me, or the gibberish I write.

Confession time!

All that said, I am often lazy. Given there is no single key for "—" I often resort to "--". Please do not judge me and my indolent typing. I shall resolve to do better.

Long live the Em Dash — 🥰

#ReplyPosts #blaugust2025