en or em dash
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- monNom0
my simple rules
hyphen: for hyphenating words
en: for numbers
em: in place of perentheses
- vaxorcist0
em dashes are the print designer's revenge on the IT department's attempt to force people to use content management systems that screw up certain characters....
- Um, no. Em dashes have been around waaaaay before IT departments—or print designers, for that matter.duckofrubber
- I'm kidding -- can't you tellvaxorcist
- wtf is up with the four periods at the end of your comment?monospaced
- ellipses followed by a period is standard for ending a sentance with an ellipses.jaylarson
- welded0
How about this: a headline is supposed to just get to the point and as has been established, em dashes are used for embellishment, so to speak, and therefore probably do not belong.
- jaylarson0
ESSENTIALS OF SPONTANEOUS PROSE
Jack KerouacMETHOD No periods separating sentence-structures already arbitrarily riddled by false colons and timid usually needless commas-but the vigorous space dash separating rhetorical breathing (as jazz musician drawing breath between outblown phrases)—"measured pauses which are the essentials of our speech"—"divisions of the sounds we hear"—"time and how to note it down." (William Carlos Williams)
- always loved his view of commas
http://www.writing.u…jaylarson
- always loved his view of commas
- TheeOtherJuan0
okay, the headline with the em dash did not get picked so found no need to shoot the mofo down (sigh).
- jimzyk0
ALL CAPS ALL OF THE SHIT & MAKE SUURE tO uSE LOTS OF .... (DOT DOT DOTS'S ——) .....
- DrBombay0
—
- vaxorcist0
I knew an editor once who thought em dashes were a sign of an indecisive writer with ADD, who had to clarify and quantify and use weasal words rather than just write clearly. He said he rarely hired anyone who used more than 1 em dash per page.
- TheeOtherJuan0
Funny, that fits my copywriters character!!!!!!
- gramme0
Maybe that's why I use so many em dashes in emails and such. ADD, check. Not sure about the indecisive part.