Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
Dashed Hopes: Why Can’t Anyone Use Dashes Correctly?
What you are about to read has been edited. The following angst-ridden teenage “prose” has been altered to protect the innocent.
Its hard being a teen these days - nobody knows what your going through-nobody cares-and all you have to do is look around to see society crumbling around us-by the way, thanks wal-mart- the middle-class is shrinking and its not cause their moving on up-if your not rich you might as well just feed the rich people you’re babies now cause its what their doing anyway-whats gonna be left when we need social security-yeah thanks to you too baby boomers-but you gotta persevere-fight the good fight-or theyll eat you too-
I had to stop there. I was starting to feel like nobody could understand what I was going through, as I was forced to read through this particular student’s college essay. I remember looking up from the paper to find my wife staring at me with a concerned expression. Even the dog was giving me a funny look. It was more than two years ago, but that essay still makes me cringe.
The student in question had asked me to proofread his college essay. He was hoping to get into a good school out east, maybe even an Ivy, so he could become a professional writer “like Jack Kerouac”. He told me it was a biting piece of social commentary that was certain to impress the folks in admissions—then he handed me a three-page document that was essentially just a longer version of what you see above. I am not exaggerating.
Some of you are probably reading it and wishing you had the opportunity to tell that kid a thing or two about life, but that’s not what bothered me. What bothered me was the way he so brutally and unceremoniously violated one of my favorite punctuation marks, the dash.
I’ll admit, the dash isn’t the easiest punctuation mark to use. Depending on which style manual you consult, the rules do vary—especially if you make a distinction between the “em dash” and the “en dash”. Honestly, I don’t feel that it’s particularly important to differentiate unless you plan on writing at a professional level. It’s mostly a typographical issue, and it’s definitely not something worthy of the extra hour of classroom time that would need to be spent on the subject.
The Rules
The way I teach dash usage is fairly simple. First, a dash is not a hyphen. Hyphens are shorter than dashes, and they’re used to separate syllables and join words. A dash is used to separate words and phrases, or to convey separation in ideas or trains of thought. It’s also important to note that spaces should not be used before and after dashes, except in situations like the notation of a date range.
In general, the dash is a less formal means of punctuation. For that reason, it should be used sparingly, especially in formal writing. On the other hand, it can be a highly effective way to make an impact with your words.
A dash can be used to indicate a significant break in thought.
I could never sell my wife—even for a lot of money!
OR I could never—even for a lot of money—sell my wife!
A dash can take the place of a colon (grammatically, not biologically).
I purchased three different albums last weekend—Don Ho, Liberace’s Greatest Hits, and German Polka Classics.
A dash can be used at the beginning or end of a series separated by commas.
The pirates—Long Beard, Captain Jim, and Peg Leg—were captured off the coast of Spain.
A dash can serve as a high-impact, informal substitute for parentheses.
The sandwiches—two from Subway and two from Quiznos—were tested in a double-blind experiment.
A dash can be used to interrupt one thought with another, related thought.
The ball game is on Friday—the same night as the prom—after the band’s dinner fundraiser.