3 ms·

What's wrong with dashes?

by acheron 2y ago

kevin_thibedeau 2y ago
Nobody types em-dashes.
- acheron 2y ago
  iOS autocorrects -- to an em dash. I do it a lot. Though true I would have spaces around it.
- ale42 2y ago
  I do! Alt-0151 on Windows. I'm not an AI, though... (and you can also write in Word and copy-paste here)
  - dowager_dan99 2y ago
    this puts you on a desktop with a full-size keyboard or a laptop with a numpad then, which is a very small minority these days with a definite dev-centric skew.
    - blooalien 2y ago
      On many Android keyboards you can press and hold various keys to get access to many of the "extra" punctuation characters and fancy "foreign" letters. I imagine the same is also true on Apple phones as well.
    - ale42 2y ago
      Indeed I am, but the point here is that some users are actually typing em-dashes outside word processors or publishing/typesetting tools (e.g., on HN)—so it's not necessarily a sign of a message written by an AI (m-dash pun intended). The poster could as well be a developer with a full-size keyboard.
- skyyler 2y ago
  People with iPhones do. If you type a double hyphen on iOS — it is replaced with an em dash. Three periods also become an ellipsis…
- kps 2y ago
  I do. I also type en-dashes where appropriate, and ellipses, and balanced quotes.
  - sim7c00 2y ago
    i only type balanced quotes and parentheses because otherwise GCC will get mad at me!: edit: failed to compile. missing semicolon
- organsnyder 2y ago
  I do. One of the first customizations I make on a new Linux install is mapping the compose key—em-dashes are then <compose> followed by two dashes. On Mac, it's configured by default: <option>+<shift>+dash It would really be disappointing if typographic pedants start being falsely accused of being AI.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- mrexroad 2y ago
  I do—daily, too.
- abruzzi 2y ago
  on Mac its super simple–option + (minus)–so I use it all the time.
- remote-dev 2y ago
  I do—commented on another thread, but: On Linux (maybe only certain distros, not sure) the keys are different, but you can enable a Compose key and enable special character keybinds as well. For example on Mint: en–dash is "<compose> <minus> <minus> <period>" em—dash is "<compose> <minus> <minus> <minus>"
rrr_oh_man 2y ago
It’s not just the em dash—it’s the juxtaposition.

What's wrong with dashes?

kevin_thibedeau 2y ago

Nobody types em-dashes.

acheron 2y ago
iOS autocorrects -- to an em dash. I do it a lot. Though true I would have spaces around it.
ale42 2y ago
I do! Alt-0151 on Windows. I'm not an AI, though... (and you can also write in Word and copy-paste here)
- dowager_dan99 2y ago
  this puts you on a desktop with a full-size keyboard or a laptop with a numpad then, which is a very small minority these days with a definite dev-centric skew.
  - blooalien 2y ago
    On many Android keyboards you can press and hold various keys to get access to many of the "extra" punctuation characters and fancy "foreign" letters. I imagine the same is also true on Apple phones as well.
  - ale42 2y ago
    Indeed I am, but the point here is that some users are actually typing em-dashes outside word processors or publishing/typesetting tools (e.g., on HN)—so it's not necessarily a sign of a message written by an AI (m-dash pun intended). The poster could as well be a developer with a full-size keyboard.
skyyler 2y ago
People with iPhones do. If you type a double hyphen on iOS — it is replaced with an em dash. Three periods also become an ellipsis…
kps 2y ago
I do. I also type en-dashes where appropriate, and ellipses, and balanced quotes.
- sim7c00 2y ago
  i only type balanced quotes and parentheses because otherwise GCC will get mad at me!: edit: failed to compile. missing semicolon
organsnyder 2y ago
I do. One of the first customizations I make on a new Linux install is mapping the compose key—em-dashes are then <compose> followed by two dashes. On Mac, it's configured by default: <option>+<shift>+dash It would really be disappointing if typographic pedants start being falsely accused of being AI.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
mrexroad 2y ago
I do—daily, too.
abruzzi 2y ago
on Mac its super simple–option + (minus)–so I use it all the time.
remote-dev 2y ago
I do—commented on another thread, but: On Linux (maybe only certain distros, not sure) the keys are different, but you can enable a Compose key and enable special character keybinds as well. For example on Mint: en–dash is "<compose> <minus> <minus> <period>" em—dash is "<compose> <minus> <minus> <minus>"

rrr_oh_man 2y ago

It’s not just the em dash—it’s the juxtaposition.