Dashes, a la Shmoop.
Robert is a dashing young man.
With his romantic and adventurous nature, thereÕs nothing he loves so much as sweeping
the ladies off their feetÉ
Éwith his amazing grammar.
And which punctuation mark does dashing Robert like to deploy in his quest for love?
Why, the dash, of course.
A dash is a dramatic kind of punctuation mark.
While a colon may go unnoticed in the middle of a sentenceÉ
Ébecause it does nothing more than serve as a setup to additional informationÉ
Éa dash signals that something exciting is about to happen.
It tells us to buckle our seat belts, because the ride is about to get all kinds of bumpy.
For example, letÕs say dashing Robert is discussing his vacation plans with a lady
friend.
He tells her, ÒI have a destination in mindÉcolonÉmy Aunt MerleÕs lake house.Ó
Robert would use the colon because, letÕs be honest, Aunt MerleÕs lake house is totally
bleh, and not worthy of a dash.
However, if Robert has somewhere more exotic and exciting planned for his vacation, heÕd
say, ÒI have a destination in mindÉdashÉa cruise around the Med on my luxurious yacht.Ó
A cruise around the Med?
How dashing!
Or what if Robert is telling one of his conquests what he likes for dinner?
ÒI eat the same thing every Thursday nightÉcolonÉmacaroni and cheese with a sliced-up hot dog weenie.Ó
Sorry, Bob, but Kraft out of a box only merits a colon.
However, if Robert says instead, ÒI eat the same thing every Thursday nightÉdashÉthe
nine-course tasting menu from The French LaundryÓÉ
Éwell, five-hundred-dollar dinners from Michelin-starred restaurants deserve a dash.
Now that weÕve talked a little about how dashes are full of dramaÉ
ÉletÕs talk about the different types of dashes.
First comes the em dash, which is longÉ
Éand then the en dash, which is short.
In most sentences, like our examples involving Robert, we use the longer em dash, which can
be inserted into a sentence in one of two waysÉ
Éeither from the ÒSpecial CharacterÓ menu in WordÉ
Éor by typing two hyphens next to one another.
The hyphen key is in between the zero key and the equal sign key at the top of a keyboard.
Whatever happens, donÕt screw up and accidentally put a hyphen in place of a dash.
Hyphens are used to split or join wordsÉ
Énot to signal to the reader that thereÕs impending awesomeness ahead.
As for the en, or short, dash, its only use is to indicate a range of inclusive numbers.
For example, if dashing Robert were to e-mail one of his girlfriends with a message that
includes the dates heÕs going to be in ParisÉ
ÉheÕd bust out the en dash.
If Robert wants to let another lady friend know when to meet for their weekly tango lesson,
heÕd send her a note like this oneÉ
ÉÒWe will dance every Wednesday night at 8 pm from January firstÉen dashÉJanuary
twenty-ninth.Ó
Essentially, the en dash is taking the place of the word ÒtoÓ in this example.
One final note about dashes, be they of the em or the en varietyÉ
We can put a space on either side of a dash, so that our sentence would read, ÒDashing
Robert gave Girlfriend Number Three a very special present for her birthdayÉspaceÉem
dashÉspaceÉa pug puppy.Ó
Or, we can leave out those spaces, so that we end up with, ÒDashing Robert gave Girlfriend
Number Three a very special present for her birthdayÉem dashÉa pug puppy.Ó
We can use spaces on either side of a dash, or not.
ItÕs a stylistic decision on the authorÕs part.
Just be sure to keep it consistent.
And nowÉ dashing Robert must away.
He has so much to doÉdashÉand so many more hearts
to stealÉ