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submitted 3 days ago by to c/programmer_humor@programming.dev
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[–] 4 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I never used an em dash in my life before AI made them a thing. I enjoy the jokes about AI can have my em dashes when it pries them from my cold dead... but I cannot relate. Ive only ever used the hyphen or en dash. I cannot figure out for the life of me if I have been missing anything.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 days ago

    I was a pretty avid reader growing up and I think I just kinda noticed them. And I used to get a little confused when my teachers kept knocking me for "run-on" sentences, when the books I read often had long-structured sentences.

    Commas, semicolons, ellipses, em dashes, colons, parentheses — sprinkle them about and you can have a paragraph of a sentence (with side thoughts), and kinda do whatever you want... it's all about using "voice" through written word. (Period)

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  • [–] 2 points 2 days ago* (1 child)

    I've been told that en dashes are for numbers, and em dashes are for words. I have a vague understanding of the usage, which (to my understanding) is splicing phrases/ sentences together. it maybe that you would want to use an em dash when you use a hyphen?

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  • [–] 3 points 2 days ago

    I use them almost like a semicolon — a longer pause to break up the sentence, where a comma just wouldn't cut it. Idk how correct I am either, it's more about trying to convey my voice and how I would like the sentence to be read. I'm not a much of a grammar nazi, more like a grammar anarchist

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