Em Dash
from “The Em Dash Divides: Why do people care so much about a piece of — no offense — punctuation?”
The longest of the dashes — roughly the length of the letter “M” — the em dash is emphatic, agile and still largely undefined. Sometimes it indicates an afterthought. Other times, it’s a fist pump. You might call it the bad boy, or cool girl, of punctuation. A freewheeling scofflaw. A rebel without a clause. Martha Nell Smith, a professor of English at the University of Maryland and the author of five books on the poet Emily Dickinson (the original em dash obsessive), said that Dickinson used the dash to “highlight the ambiguity of the written word. The dash is an invitation to the reader to make meaning,” Dr. Smith said. “It can also be a leap of faith.”
Kate Mooney, The New York Times, August 14, 2019
I’ve always liked the em dash. It’s strong. It’s poetic. It’s now part of my personal brand.
Not everyone will get it. Many will think it’s a simple detail of graphic design. But for me, this dash represents direction.
I’m starting over. Again. My kids are grown. I have a new career, and I’ve moved to a new community.
Michelle Hardy Editor —
It’s a leap of faith.
Editors review the details —