Emdash fans!
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@mcc Being from an en-dash kind of language, spaces are absolutely necessary for my eyes when em-dashes are used for a break in thoughts — without them, it just parses as a hyphen and it throws me every single time when reading e.g. a novel typeset without any space around em-dashes.
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@mcc oh— this doesn't look good for me...
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@mcc@mastodon.social absolutely — they just look nicer that way.
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@mcc oh— this doesn't look good for me...
@vn i share your concern
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@mcc It's complicated. In plain text I use two hyphens with spaces around them -- like this. When I do proper typesetting, no spaces—like this.
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@mcc @mayintoronto I think em-dash with no spaces is insane, given what it's supposed to do: create a long pause.
Why drag the words together while creating a pause? Give it some air!
And, It's supposed to be a longer pause than n-dash, right? But when you omit the spaces, it's actually shorter!
Anyway, I don't use it. When I want a long payse, I use " … " .
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@mcc Chicago Manual of Style (my preferred guide) has no spaces around em dashes, for example from 6.91:
> She outlined the strategy—a strategy that would, she hoped, secure the peace.
> My friends—that is, my former friends—ganged up on me.
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@mcc@mastodon.social yes — i use hair space
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@mcc I do both sides, usually. I don't when using it to show abrupt changes in something's flow, like conversation interruptions or surprises, ect.
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@mcc@mastodon.social yes — i use hair space
@xarvos advanced strats
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@mcc
Normally they belong on both sides. *However*, if the em dash represents interruption in mid-word, you only use a space afterward, not on both sides.Oh, and for those who want to back things up with a style guide? Spaces on both sides is Associated Press style.
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@mcc ummmm… you forgot ―much to my chagrin― one other option.
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@mcc ummmm… you forgot ―much to my chagrin― one other option.
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@mcc Voted yes — on both sides — but it's slightly more complicated. When using an em-dash as an interjection, I only add spaces to the right, but when I use em-dashes to denote parenthetical clauses, I use spaces on either side.
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@mcc indeed
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@mcc I didn't realize I was such an avid em-dash user until I implemented my static site code and had to add a special rule in thr markdown compiler to turn "--" into an em-dash.
I have no idea how to actually write an em-dash outside of my work email's WYSIWYG editor which auto converts the dashes...
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@mcc I don't use spaces, because Chicago, but that works best when you have a nice, long emdash. If you're making do with two endashes, adding spaces makes sense.
Also, one of my typographical pet peeves is an emdash at the start of a line.
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The latest episode of the 99% Invisible podcast is all about the emdash. Check it out:
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/658-the-em-dash/
