FURTHER READING
-Hyphens-
Hyphens are a single line that connects letters and words. Hyphens are frequently confused with dashes, which are two hyphens in a row that separate (see the next entry). Some of the ways that hyphens connect include:
- Connecting two or more words that are different parts of speech to create a new word
- Every able-bodied man and woman was held captive.
- Luckily, Wonder Woman was a jack-of-all-trades.
- While Etta found the situation pee-in-your-pajamas frightening, Diana maintained her composure.
- Connecting a capital letter or number to a noun
- Dr. Poison primed the Ice-9.
- Twice as powerful as the H-bomb, Dr. Poison's new weapon would devastate every country in a matter of minutes.
- Connecting a prefix to word that typically accepts no prefixes
- Dr. Poison picked London to attack because of her anti-British hatred.
- While she accepted the allies won the war, she bristled at the quasi-justice that the Treaty of Versailles provided.
- Connecting two words into a compound word when the fusion would result in a double vowel or triple consonant
- Dr. Poison smiled thinking of the bell-like frozen explosion that would destroy them all.
- Her modified use of Killer Frost's ice-energy beams would turn any form of water into deadly subzero crystals.
- Connecting syllables broken at the end of a page margin: Bursting into the room, Dr. Poison dis-
- Connecting the written digits of numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine: Sixty-four people died last time Cheetah was loose.
- Connecting the numerator and denominator in a spelled-out fraction: One-third of her victims lived, but were badly injured.
- Connecting letters when a word is spelled aloud: “That’s justice, spelled J-U-S-T-I-C-E!”
--Dashes--
Unlike the single hyphen that connects, the dash separates. While both commas and semicolons separate, dashes separate in a way that Indicates a sudden change in thought or tone. Consisting of two hyphens (or a longer connected line called an em dash in typing), dashes are most often used with parentheticals, which are literally defined as nonessential sentence interruptions. These can come in the middle of a sentence with a dash on either side . . .
Her friend Zola--her best friend, Diana thought -- should be able to help.
. . . at the end of a sentence . . .
She didn't know how fast Zola could get there -- wasn't she in Berlin this week?
. . . between a sentence and an afterthought . . .
Dr. Poison gassed the whole city -- every single block!
. . . or to set off a phrase for emphasis.
Wonder Woman made a mistake -- a big mistake -- in underestimating Dr. Poison.
Dashes are also supposed to separate numbers, conflicting parties, and dates, yet hyphens are commonly used for this.
She looked through pages 5--78 for the cure.
He slowly crossed the Botswana--Namibia border.
Her friend Zola--her best friend, Diana thought -- should be able to help.
. . . at the end of a sentence . . .
She didn't know how fast Zola could get there -- wasn't she in Berlin this week?
. . . between a sentence and an afterthought . . .
Dr. Poison gassed the whole city -- every single block!
. . . or to set off a phrase for emphasis.
Wonder Woman made a mistake -- a big mistake -- in underestimating Dr. Poison.
Dashes are also supposed to separate numbers, conflicting parties, and dates, yet hyphens are commonly used for this.
She looked through pages 5--78 for the cure.
He slowly crossed the Botswana--Namibia border.
Practical question: What's the difference between an en dash and an em dash?
Not much, anymore.
Originally, an en dash described a line the width of a lowercase typed n (or two handwritten dashes), while an em dash described a line the width of a lowercase typed m (or three handwritten dashes). The en dash was used to a) connect a prefix to word that typically accepts no prefixes, b) connect two words into a compound word when the fusion would result in a double vowel or triple consonant, c) connect syllables broken at the end of a page margin, and d) separate numbers, conflicting parties, and dates. The em dash was used to e) offset parenthetical interruptions and f) work as an "opposite colon" that can negatively introduce a list or subtitle. Most modern writers and style books choose to ignore these out-of-date definitions.
So why are things changing? A few reasons:
1) Dashes are supposed to separate, yet uses a, b, and c of the en dash above connect; thus, it makes more logical sense to use a regular hyphen here than a dash.
2) The Qwerty keyboard only has a hyphen an em dash on the keyboard, as en dashes are hard to visually distinguish from both hyphens and em dashes; thus, use d of the en dash was moved to the em dash out of convenience.
3) The idea of an "opposite colon" dash is difficult to make clear, stylistically, so it is falling out of use.
4) Three written lines takes more time to write than two; thus, all handwritten dashes became two lines with no differentiation between the two line and three line forms.
5) Over time, grammar tends to become more practical and user friendly; thus, the two dashes are merging into one dash for simplicity's sake.