Em dashes are used in place of commas or parentheses to emphasize or draw attention to parenthetical or amplifying material.“That is-I suppose it is concerning.” The Em Dash in Action: Attention Must Be Paid “Of course you have a point,” Mabel murmured. “That the bakers fail to recognize the crucial importance of the cheese Danish-” An em dash can indicate interrupted speech or a speaker’s confusion or hesitation.Mabel the Cat was delighted with the assortment of pastries the new bakery featured, but Harry the Dog-he felt otherwise. An em dash can mark an abrupt change or break in the structure of a sentence.How to type one, however, depends on your machine. This website prefers the latter, its style requiring the closely held em dash in running text. Most newspapers insert a space before and after the dash, and many popular magazines do the same, but most books and journals omit spacing, closing whatever comes before and after the em dash right up next to it. The em dash is sometimes considered a less formal equivalent of the colon and parenthesis, but in truth it’s used in all kinds of writing, including the most formal-the choice of which mark to use is really a matter of personal preference. Like a colon, an em dash introduces a clause that explains or expands upon something that precedes it. Like commas and parentheses, em dashes set off extra information, such as examples, explanatory or descriptive phrases, or supplemental facts. The em dash can function like a comma, a colon, or parenthesis. It looks like - or sometimes (as when one’s word processing program fails to convert it) - and it’s called the “common dash,” or “em dash.” The two names are well-earned this dash is the most common true dash, and it’s the approximate width of a capital M. There are various punctuation items that can be described as dashes, and we will get to them all, but we’ll begin with the most useful, and most used. They take the reader aside, and then draw that reader to the next bit like a good dance partner in the lead. Use the tools, strategies, and exercises in this book to help you (below is a list of some of the most relevant and helpful of those tools and exercises to help you get the most out of your dash).Among punctuation marks, dashes have a certain panache. Don’t regret missing out once it’s too late. to help you live the happiest possible " dash" (life).Īre you making the most of your life (your dash)?Īre you going to regret not having done something in your life? If so, this can have a significant impact on your happiness.Īnd if you aren’t living it exactly the way you want, do something about it. And that’s the mission of this entire website. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, is that there are so many of us who realize when we hear it that we are not “living our dash” the best way possible. Why was it so impactful? I believe there are two reasons:įirstly, it is truly a great message. He received an enthusiastic standing ovation – certainly for the entire talk, but also because of the emotional and impactful ending of his talk - The Dash. There were tears in people’s eyes – including mine.
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