Hyphens and dashes, oh my

Jocelyn Limpert jocelyn.limpert at GMAIL.COM
Sat Jun 4 01:50:28 UTC 2011


and that's unfortunate; but publisher's think it's a way to save money,
eliminate editors, use spell-check, etc.!

On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 3:23 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Hyphens and dashes, oh my
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> But there are so few....
>
> JL
>
> On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 1:56 PM, Jocelyn Limpert
> <jocelyn.limpert at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jocelyn Limpert <jocelyn.limpert at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Hyphens and dashes, oh my
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > conscientious editors care!
> >
> > On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 1:51 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: Hyphens and dashes, oh my
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Who cares?
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 1:41 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > > -----------------------
> > > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > > > Subject:      Re: Hyphens and dashes, oh my
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > >
> > > > Aren't there three different things, hyphen, short (en) dash, and
> > > > long (em) dash?  I've been using hyphens between words
> > > > ("high-falutin'"), short dashes between numbers ("pages 14--15"), and
> > > > long dashes between phrases.
> > > >
> > > > Although Wikipedia on "Dash" is more high-falutin'.  In Wiki, by the
> > > > way, the en dash *is* permitted in "
> > > >
> > > > Relationships and connections" -- as in the McCain--Feingold bill (my
> > > > two hyphens = one en-dash); and "Attributive compounds" -- as in
> > > (notably)
> > > > "
> > > >
> > > > Pre--Civil War era".  Wiki then goes on to
> > > >
> > > > Differing recommendations, including CMofS.
> > > >
> > > > Wiki also has a section there called
> > > >
> > > > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_dash#En_dash_versus_em_dash>En dash
> > > > versus em dash.
> > > >
> > > > Joel
> > > >
> > > > At 6/3/2011 09:37 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > > > >What bothers me most is the use of long dashes for hypens, something
> I
> > > see
> > > > >in books more and more.  Extremely distracting: it looks like a new
> > > phrase
> > > > >is coming and not just the second element of a compound.
> > > >
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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