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The Em Dash


A couple of weeks ago I came across this LinkedIn post with the following, timely, warning:

⚠️ AI WARNING ⚠️
ChatGPT cannot produce a single piece of text without slipping in an em dash.
One of these bad boys: —
Not a hyphen. Not a dash. An Em dash.

Em… what?

Back when I started this blog I ran a few of the posts through ChatGPT to help with structure and flow, and low and behold it did exactly as the warning above mentioned.

Since I don’t have any real writing background I just assumed it was the way to go, but wasn’t too sure what to make of them. I’m partial to a regular hyphen but the — looks a bit much.

I didn’t even know how to add this without looking it up (Option + Shift + Dash) but have since included it… a lot.

I’ve been a bit rash with the dash

The Plot Thickens

The ChatGPT writing style skews American English, and, while the Brits are always at it, I do defer to their spelling on most things. (Every time I have to write color in CSS is like a stab to the heart)

While researching this post, I came across another LinkedIn post that does a good job of breaking down the various dashes and when/how to use them. It introduced me to the en dash (Option + Dash) – a bit less obnoxious looking than the em dash.

This blog has been a great way to learn about linguistics and improve me English writing skills, and going forward I think I’ll opt for this en dash instead.

Although; at the end of the day,,, it doesn’t really matter that much — does it!?