3 ms·
The author uses dash (-) not em dash (—), there is a big difference in that everyone has a dedicated dash/undersocore key on their keyboard, but nobody has a em
by yokoprime 10mo ago
The author uses dash (-) not em dash (—), there is a big difference in that everyone has a dedicated dash/undersocore key on their keyboard, but nobody has a em dash key. You can use word processing software etc, but using em dash consistently throughout a text is very unnatural in casual written texts.
- BalinKing 10mo agoThere is an easy shortcut for em dashes on macOS, Opt+Shift+-. This makes it really easy to use them, which I do all the time in casual settings (indeed, more often than in formal settings).
- rcarmo 10mo agoAutocomplete does that for me (bilingual English/Portuguese).
- creata 10mo agoAnd a very easy shortcut in Vim: Ctrl+K M -
- pcthrowaway 10mo agoAnd a very easy shortcut in emacs: C-x M-c M-butterfly-dash
- xigoi 10mo agoI do have an em dash key on the keyboard on my phone :)
- elephanlemon 10mo agoDouble hyphen converts to em dash in Microsoft Word and I think some other places. I was taught that it was incorrect to use a hyphen in place of a dash, so I’ve always used em dashes -- sometimes I’ll just use two hyphens if the software doesn’t convert, like a forum :).