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Considering the Dash
A few timely words about a most humble and hardworking typographic symbol The dash – also known somewhat incorrectly as a hyphen – is a hardworking part of every typographers and typists toolbox. (…)
A few timely words about a most humble and hardworking typographic symbol
The dash – also known somewhat incorrectly as a hyphen – is a hardworking part of every typographers and typists toolbox. Being so ubiquitous it’s also misused quite a bit, mostly because of a simple lack of information. And, just as texts on desktop typesetting seem replete with reminders that two spaces after a period are unnecessary, questions seem to endlessly arise about usage of the dash.
Here, then, is a short primer about the most common dashes, and how to use them.
A brief dash bestiary
An intriguing thing to find, once one is introduced to typography, whether or not one comes from a typists’ background, is that there are a handful of different forms of the dash.
There are two essential forms of dash to be aware of, if one must state the very obvious, and exclusive of the standard hyphen available on the computer keyboard:
- The shorter of the two is about the width of the standard minuscule “n”, and is predictably called the en-dash. The typical Mac keyboard access is Opt-minus, for Windows hold down the Alt key and type 0150 on the numeric keypad.
- The longer of the two is about the width of the standard minuscule “m”, and is just as predictably called the em-dash. For the Mac, Shift-Opt-minus, for Windows, hold down Alt then type 0151 on the numeric keypad.
The diacritic known as a tilde (~), when used as a dash, is also called a swung dash. There is also a dash of intermedite length – the three-to-em (M/3) dash – that is, of course, one-third of an em-dash. Other forms of dash may be available, depending on the application or the character set.
How to use them
Given the history of desktop typesetting, some good typing habits have been brought forward into bad desktop typesetting habits. As the habit of putting two spaces after every period must be broken, so must the typist’s habit of indicating a long dash with a double hyphen (--).
In type, dashes serve a variety of needs. This most common of these is setting off a different phrase within a sentence – just as I’ve just done here. There are also dashes that weld two words together in a single term (such as the dash in the term one-third), An individual typesetter’s use is sometimes guided by habit and training.
Bringhurst, in The Elements of Typographic Style, offers the following guidelines:
- Use spaced en dashes – rather than double-hyphens or em dashes – to set off phrases.
- Use close-set en dashes or M/3 dashes (which can be formed by shortening an en dash if not available in the type set) to indicate ranges. In this wise, the dash stands in for the word to.
- If used, a good use of em dashes is to introduce speakers in a narrative dialogue. This is inspired by the European style, and is less fussy than quotation marks:
—Did they want us to stop there?
—No, they wanted us to move along.
Why should we care?
One of the hallmarks of designing is using tools with knowledge and intention. A designer, and especially a typographer, is aware that there are different types of dashes and they have specific meanings. Using them properly contributes to the professional finish that a true professional strives for.
More than that, simply using a default of what the computer supplies when one knows better has the effect of essentially allowing the computer to design for us. Even the smallest bit of type communicates, and improperly used type can obscure communication. People will notice, even if they don’t realize they are.
An exception to the “no double-dashes” rule must be in e-mail. If I use the key command for an en-dash or an em-dash, with my Mac, it doesn’t always show up appropriately for my Windows-using recipients. So for an em-dash, I consider it proper to substitute two hyphens. And for an en-dash, I substitute space-hyphen-space.
You make a very good point. Email is a very personal medium and, while a certain skill with electronic type is certainly appreciated by myself (at least), the tolerances for, say, non standard uses are certainly wider.
In a perfect world I suppose we’d all be able to compose type perfectly and all OSs we send them to would interpret them just as meant. Obviously we don’t live there, and we must make allowances for our Windows friends, as you correctly pointed out.
The guidelines a la Bringhurst make eminent sense but we should follow them, IMHO, only as far as it makes sense to follow. I do a lot of my mail in plain text, which doesn’t know from such typographic refinement, so I agree your subsitutions as mentioned are perfectly proper.
DESIGNORATI
Sam, thanks so much for this great article on proper usage of dashes and hyphens. The lack of expert typography is one of my pet peeves, and good type is one of the cornerstones of all design IMHO.
I found the rule on using en dashes and spaces to denote phrases – like this – interesting. I adhere to James Felici’s Complete Manual of Typography (Adobe Press) and he says to use em dashes without spaces—like this— to do the same. I wonder which is proper?
BTW, is the three-to-em dash abbreviated as 3/M, or M/3? You use both in the article.
Thanks again for this illuminating piece!
DESIGNORATI
I’ve seen both the space-en-dash-space and the em-dash-with-no-spaces interpretations. I’ve come to the conclusion that as long as you’re consistent within a document, they’re both clear forms of the same punctuation.
I’ve also gone back and forth about ellipses… I’ve seen them that way (all together with no spaces, but a space after) as well as this way . . . (a space before and after each one). I think I prefer them with no spaces, but now I don’t automatically look down on people who do use the spaces.
Jeremy:
Thanks for pointing out the 3/M vs M/3 mistake, I shall fix. Also your comments in general.
Joan:
You’ve hit on a very good point again. I gave the Bringhurst guidelines partially in the interests of clarity and partially in the interests of aesthetics. When I see the endash without spaces–like this–the dash and the words on either side tend to merge, for me, into one word shape. I find this distracting.
Jeremy mentioned Felici, who says to do it this way. I find the Bringhurst method more personally aestheticallly pleasing.
But your point – that consistency counts – is well taken (notice that I’ve used both methods so far in this text). If you’re inconsistent either you’re trying to illustrate a point (as I’m doing here) or you’re just being sloppy. As a designer and a typophile, I hate sloppy. For those not so trained, I’m convinced that they notice this on perhaps a subliminal level. As someone once said, you cannot not communicate.
And, since you mentioned the ellipsis . . . maybe I’ll look into that.
DESIGNORATI
I agree that, when there’s conflicting “rules” of typography, consistency is the best we can achieve. Who can tell what is right or wrong, especially when the experts cannot decide?
BTW, I’ll have to look up Felici’s notes on ellipses but I do remember that the computer keystroke for creating an ellipsis actually sets the points way too close. It’s better to use “…”.
DESIGNORATI
Logistical note: The Designorati text rendering engine is programmed to automatically substitute certain shorthand glyph arrangements with their typographically correct equivalents. For example, every time you type three periods into a comment, it’s transformed on the fly into a genuine ellipse (which is a tighter kerned set of three dots, which are smaller dots than periods).
I’ve also programmed in compensation for, and correction of, typical bad dash habits, as well. This may affect the display of your intended literal examples (making bad examples to illustrate a point into good examples and confounding your point).
DESIGNORATI
That said, I’ve always hated space-em-space; it’s too jarring a break in the flow of language. Em dashes in independent clauses–like this one–are supposed to provide just enough of a separation to communicate that the thought is outside the main point of the sentence, that the sentence could stand alone without it, but that the clause is still part of the same train of thought (and more important than parens would denote). Flanking the em dashes with spaces, however — like this — creates too much of a separation–a near disconnect–and often creates a distraction large enough that the user’s eye is drawn out of surrounding lines of text toward the oddly oversized gap.
DESIGNORATI
The difference I’ve observed most consistenly is that European typography favours pairs of spaced en dashes whereas American typography almost always uses pais of unspaced em dashes.
All of us concerned with proper punctuation should read, ‘Eats Shoots and Leaves’ by Lynne Truss.
An interesting yet humourous and entertaining read.
In regard to em dash spaces, I have found spaces between words and em dashes tend to be used in the UK and Australia, whereas no spaces are used in the American market. Lynne’s book has both American and UK editions.
Actually, I do have Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. It’s a great book, written with humor and insight, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
You mention the apparent standard practice being different in the UK and Australia, and I’ve noticed it as well. Sometimes I will actually get a familiar book published in the UK just to get the experience of a different typesetting regime.
There is a qualitiative difference to the reading that makes for an awareness-expanding experience that I quite enjoy.
DESIGNORATI
I’m a textbook designer and the house style for my main client (in the US) is to use a spaced em dash. Since full word spaces get a bit unwieldy, we spec a small space like a 1/4 en space or a punctuation space around the dash which will allow line breaks around the dash for better justification, yet still allow the dash to sit close enough to the words on either side. And dashes are far enough away not to touch words or turn flanking words into a single visual unit. Since the Pub prefers not to break lines before a long dash, I can specify a nonbreaking space before and a breaking space after the dash to make the page layout program handle the dashes the way the Pub wants automatically. If the dashes are set closed, it’s all manual oversight, and you have to hope you have a good proofreader paying attention.
A slightly open em dash looks similar in running text to an en dash with full word spaces on either side, but does not have the problem of having those regular word spaces opening up even more when dashes appear on a looser line.
What about the use of hyphenated words? It arises frequently in our business (real estate).
eg 3-car garage, eat-in kitchen!
What is current convention?
Thanks
John