Last week I talked periods. (Judy Blume’s talk was terrific, as was the movie version of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, thank you for asking!)
This week, I’m returning to my own personal favorite punctuation mark, the em dash, which also is the favorite of many readers who responded to my query about a couple of newsletters back.
Last week I led an icebreaker at my group run, and of course I asked about favorite punctuation. Of the 10 or so people present, about a third were fellow em-dash lovers.
The thing with the em dash is that its name is confusing. People recognize the mark, but not the name. And the other thing is that it would not even be called the em dash if it were not for its cousin, the en dash.
So to explain properly the em dash, I first need to address the difference between the em dash and the en dash.
First of all — (that’s an em dash, btw) Why the heck is it called that? What’s an em? What’s an en?
Em is the letter M, spelled out phonetically. If you just slapped yourself in the head in disbelief, you aren’t alone.
And en is the letter N, spelled out phonetically.
But WHY? Once upon a time, newspapers, magazines, and books were laid out in lead type to fit the length and width of the paper they were printed on. Each letter and every punctuation mark counted toward your allocation of space. It was important to know how much room everything could take up.
Ergo, the em dash is the width of a capital M, and the en dash, the width of a capital N. If you had one of those in a story you were laying out, you knew exactly how much room it would cost you.
Now their length is less important in digital media, so the difference between the two dashes lies primarily in function.
The em dash acts similarly to a colon, a comma, or a set of parentheses. It breaks up a sentence (breathing room!) or sets off a new phrase. It is a bit less formal than those other marks. I think it’s rather jaunty. Hello! Here’s a new phrase to consider that may or may not have anything to do with what I wrote over there! Jazz hands!
Like your eyebrows, the em dash and en dash are cousins, not sisters.
The en dash marks time, for example on a restaurant sign saying they are open for dinner from 5–10 p.m., or quantity, for example on a homework assignment instructing a student to read pages 24–30. The en dash also marks divides and boundaries; for example, the Tennessee–Georgia water dispute (look it up) or the New York–Washington Acela train. It’s less jazzy, but it gets the job done.
It is also important to note here that neither the em dash nor the en dash is a hyphen. Please do not insult them this way. Hyphens link compound words or prefixes and suffixes. They are commoners. Em and en dashes are royals. Please treat them as such.
I love this. And I love em dashes!