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PaperclipPerfector  10d ago (text post)   2517 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 8, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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To answer your question-

Kill the dash, too.

The em dash is probably one of the most misunderstood punctuation marks. It works well when a comma is too weak but a colon or set of parentheses is too strong. It puts a nice pause in the text — and it is underused in professional writing.

The em dash is like a delicate but dangerous tool: reckless use can lead to injury. They're great for inserting non-related information in the middle of a sentence -- I do this a lot -- but as a way to pause text? No way. A period is sufficient in most cases. Single em dashes create unnecessary whiplash in a sentence.

Non-glowing brain: " - "
Dimly-glowing brain: " -- "
Moderately-glowing brain: " – "
Brightly-glowing brain: "--"
Galaxy brain: "—"

Or at least don't use a hyphen.

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