Emdashes—Modern Times Between the Lines

The Basics:
About Emdashes | Email us

Before it moved to The New Yorker:
Ask the Librarians

Best of Emdashes: Hit Parade
A Web Comic: The Wavy Rule

 
November022009

Against Em Dashes, With Exceptions

Filed under: Little Words   Tagged: , , ,

“The Em Dash: Friend or Foe?” That’s the title of a blog post by the wonderfully named writer Elizabeth Ditty. She’s doing NaNoWriMo and has some opinions on “that dastardly punctuation mark,” which she also calls “the troublesome turncoat of the punctuation world.” While we cannot agree that our favorite dash is dastardly, we do love rereading the rules (the AP variety, in this case), which provide comfort even in the most turbulent times. And, after all, she adds, “So, as you can see, there really are plenty of instances where the em dash acts as a true friend.” Feeling dashed? Don’t—just read her post. —E.G.

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, it may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Thanks for waiting.)

2008 Webby Awards Official Honoree