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Argggh! Seeing “tell—tale sign” when it should be “tell-tale sign” is even worse! The point isn't to use punctuation, it's to use punctuation properly!
by MarkusQ 10mo ago
Argggh! Seeing “tell—tale sign” when it should be “tell-tale sign” is even worse! The point isn't to use punctuation, it's to use punctuation properly!
- EGreg 10mo agoI totally agree! When I was growing up, I saw plays also use it like this: The two are in a room. -- Some guy says this -- The other guy says that You just don't see em-dashes used like they used to -- and it shows!
- schoen 10mo agoThis use in dialogue is common in Continental European languages, especially Romance languages. I think it's also common in English among writers who were influenced by other European languages?
- messe 10mo agoIIRC Joyce was a fan.
- blauditore 10mo agoWhich languages are you talking about? It looks unfamiliar to me.
- schoen 10mo agoHere's someone talking about an example in French: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/fr-em-dash-usage.3643672/ https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/fr-em-dash-usage.364... I believe I've also seen it in Spanish and Portuguese.
- rafabulsing 10mo agoBrazilian here. That is indeed the standard way dialogue is represented in literature. We call the em-dash a "travessão".
- pbalau 10mo agoI think Romanian uses that too and it just occurred to me that "linie de dialog" is not dash, but em dash.
- jonah 10mo agoThey used two hyphens -- instead because typewriters don't have em dashes —.
- EGreg 10mo agoSure, but that's not what I was talking about :)
- Ericson2314 10mo agoThat's an intentional overcorrection for humor
- MarkusQ 10mo agoI know. It still grates on my nerves.
- pbalau 10mo agoHere's another one: "I can't be bothered to use em-dash?"
- blauditore 10mo agoHave you ever noticed some people can't even use basic punctuation like question marks.
- amitav1 10mo agoNo, I haven"t?
- encrypted_bird 10mo agoSure'ly you must be jok–ing.
- amitav1 10mo agoNo; I shan/t[sic].
- encrypted_bird 10mo agoÄrh yhü sh'ure ah-bou't þat?
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- BeetleB 10mo ago"In protest, I wrote [1] a plugin to convert all hyphens in this blog to em—dashes. Even ones that really should just be hyphens."
- mjd 10mo agoI find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Related and perhaps interesting: https://mathstodon.xyz/@mjd/114730157688607856 https://mathstodon.xyz/@mjd/114730157688607856
- inopinatus 10mo agoBlot out, correct, insert, refine, Enlarge, diminish, interline; Be mindful, when Invention fails; To scratch your Head, and bite your Nails. Your poem finish'd, next your Care Is needful, to transcribe it fair. In modern Wit all printed Trash, is Set off with num'rous Breaks⸺and Dashes— ― Swift, Jonathan (1733). On Poetry; a rapsody