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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1870 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 18, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I never use AI to compose or "polish" text, and I really resent that accusation being lobbed at me. Once the difference between hyphens and em-dashes was pointed out to me, it became impossible to unsee, and I make a point of using em-dashes whenever they're appropriate. I even asked on this very forum how to type them on a standard keyboard, if you don't believe me.

I make a point of using em-dashes whenever they're appropriate

But you're using them wrong.

  • Good: "author—well" (em dash with no spaces)

  • Okay (preferred by some publishers, though I personally see no need for it): "author – well" (en dash with spaces)

  • WTF: "author — well" (em dash with spaces)

Okay, what would be the correct unit of punctuation to separate two clauses with a space on either side?

I just gave you two options—either an em dash with no spaces (as I prefer), or an en dash with spaces (as, e. g., Steve Jackson Games prefers). Just don't use an em dash with spaces.

Even Merriam-Webster acknowledges that usage varies:

Spacing around an em dash varies. 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.

I suspect this may be yet another "separated by a common language" thing, where spaces on either side is the norm in the UK and Ireland.

But what is the point of adding all these extra spaces? Isn't an em dash long enough without them?

It's like how the French language adds a random space before a colon, a question mark, or an exclamation mark, but not before a period. I just don't see any reason for it.

(Coincidentally, @ZorbaTHut is currently insisting that adding random vertical spaces to the rules page is a good thing.)

To me, no spaces makes it look like the words on either side of the em-dash have been hyphenated. To return to your previous example, when I first read your comment there was a split-second when I was thinking "what on earth is an 'author-well'?" and wondered if it might be an inkwell than an author dips his quill into.

In my browser, a hyphen-minus is 5 pixels, an en dash is 9 pixels, and an em dash is 16 pixels. (These measurements were gathered, not manually, but by using the browser's "inspect element" feature on a span element that includes only the character in question.) Being unable to tell the difference between a hyphen-minus and an em dash sounds like a severe skill issue.


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Well, point taken.

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