Re:Punctuation Matters: How to use the en dash, em dash and ...
by vitus on Sunday March 12, 2023 @01:00PM
(#35122681)
> Personally, I think two hyphens also looks better than just one
It's context-dependent. (Aside: you wouldn't write "context--dependent", which is the use case of the hyphen.)
Ostensibly the en dash is primarily used for ranges, although that's a case where I'm inconsistent. I won't typically write "A - Z" or the technically correct "A–Z", as I think in that case I tend to write "A-Z", using a simple hyphen. I certainly won't write "A -- Z".
The em dash is even wider—it's not typically mistaken for a hyphen.
It's context-dependent. (Aside: you wouldn't write "context--dependent", which is the use case of the hyphen.)
Ostensibly the en dash is primarily used for ranges, although that's a case where I'm inconsistent. I won't typically write "A - Z" or the technically correct "A–Z", as I think in that case I tend to write "A-Z", using a simple hyphen. I certainly won't write "A -- Z".
The em dash is even wider—it's not typically mistaken for a hyphen.