En-dash versus em-dash (was: Re: Using the Unicode ellipsis (…) instead of three periods)

[Robin Stocker <robin nibor org>]

Philip Withnall wrote:
> I’ve created https://live.gnome.org/GnomeGoals/UnicodeUsage which I
> think covers everything discussed in this thread so far. Please feel
> free to add further suggestions to it, or move things from the
> ‘discussion’ to the ‘agreed’ list.

Looks good. The only thing I’d like to discuss is the use of a spaced
em-dash:

> Em-dash (U+2014, ‘—’) rather than a hyphen (‘-’) in longer descriptive
> strings.  The em-dash should be used similarly to a colon — to mark an
> abrupt change or conclusion to a sentence. For example: “hyphens should
> not be used — they are too narrow” rather than “hyphens should not be
> used - they are too narrow”.

I agree that hyphens should not be used for the above purposes. The
common alternatives are the following:

a) Em-dash without spaces: Hyphens should not be used—they are too narrow

b) En-dash with spaces: Hyphens should not be used – they are too narrow

c) Em-dash with spaces: Hyphens should not be used — they are too narrow

(Please remember to look at these examples in a proportional font, not
a fixed-width one.)


Also see the following section about this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash#En_dash_versus_em_dash


IMO either style a) or b) from above should be chosen, as they are more
widely used than c) in general.

I personally prefer b), because a) “glues” the words together and c)
spaces them too far apart.

Any other opinions on this?


Regards,
  Robin