I always, almost subconciously use double dashes when I'm writing--like this (but not when I'm hyphenating words, like on-line). Is this actually genuinely annoying, and why?
From what I've picked up from the James Frey thread, it seems that it might imply a desire to come off as more old-skool or authentic (key word: Dickensian), though I've never consciously made an attempt at this... in fact if I'm honest it's because typing the double dash in Word autoformats it to a single, longer dash.
― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Friday, 13 January 2006 13:43 (twenty years ago)
― Tuomas (Tuomas), Friday, 13 January 2006 13:46 (twenty years ago)
Where are the Comma Police when you need them?
― Disciplining And Controlling My Mind (kate), Friday, 13 January 2006 13:46 (twenty years ago)
The usage of three periods: sign of a lazy writer?
(You have to scroll down a bit to get to the double dash conversation.)
― Tuomas (Tuomas), Friday, 13 January 2006 13:47 (twenty years ago)
― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Friday, 13 January 2006 13:50 (twenty years ago)
Dickens didn't do that! Did he?
― öROXYMUZAKö (roxymuzak), Friday, 13 January 2006 15:53 (twenty years ago)
-- öROXYMUZAKö
Oops, got my wires crossed between reading that thread and posting this one!
― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Friday, 13 January 2006 17:02 (twenty years ago)
- hyphen– en dash (looks similar, but appears slightly longer than a hyphen in most typefaces). — em dash
The reason you use them instead of en or em dashes is because those characters are special and won't show up correctly in all web browsers. The proper typographical mark for that instance is an em dash. Microsoft Word, for some reason, replaces the double hyphen with an en dash, which is incorrect.
Generally speaking, most online news sites use double hyphens to simulate an em dash without risking formatting problems, and often use a single hyphen to save space.
― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 13 January 2006 17:24 (twenty years ago)
Dickens had an interesting habit of using M dashes in addition to other forms of punctuation,--like this.
But yes, they're all different and have different purposes. Hyphens connect words, obviously. M dashes are sentence punctuation -- pauses, breaks in thought, and so on. N dashes have more arcane applications, like for ranges (1992-1997) and to compound modifiers with extra words (Art Deco-style lamp).
― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 13 January 2006 17:53 (twenty years ago)
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 13 January 2006 17:54 (twenty years ago)
Was it just Dickens? I see this kind of thing in a lot of 19th C. literature.
I'm fine with em-dashes used without spaces between words, but I really don't like the looks of a double dash without spaces on either side -- I prefer a little room.
― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 13 January 2006 17:58 (twenty years ago)
― Laura H. tracks monkeys with lasers (laurah), Friday, 13 January 2006 18:01 (twenty years ago)
hand-held screwdrivers?
― killy (baby lenin pin), Friday, 13 January 2006 18:05 (twenty years ago)
― Df'nM (OutDatWay), Friday, 13 January 2006 18:21 (twenty years ago)