3 ms·

What is the difference between the two dashes?

• hashmal 9y ago
  They don't have the same width (more or less visible depending on the font): the hyphen (-) is for joining, the emdash (–) is for separating. The difference in width create a different "rhythm" in text. Yes, it's subtle, as it's usually the case for typography.
• AnimalMuppet 9y ago
  Length (or width, if you think in terms of width and height). An en-dash is the width of a capital N; an em-dash is the width of a capital M. (Hence the names.)
• astura 9y ago
  They have different lengths and purposes. There's the hyphen (-) you are used to then there's the en dash (–) and the em dash (—). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash >An em dash (or an en dash) denotes a break in a sentence or to set off parenthetical statements. >The en dash (but not the em dash) indicates spans or differentiation, where it may be considered to replace "and" or "to" (but not "to" in the phrase "from … to …") >The em dash (but not the en dash) is also used to set off the sources of quotes
  • seorphates 9y ago
    They also have ramifications for the systems that consume them. If a system is ascii and using extended ascii then globalization presents some specific challenges around these groovy usages of the seemingly innocuous little flat line.