If Em Dash shortcut is not working in Word, employ the Universal Alt Code, create a Foolproof AutoCorrect Entry, etc.

Do you have an em dash problem? No? Lucky you. I do and, until the other day, I didn’t even know it was a problem. What is an em dash, you ask? Sorry, I should have ...

If you've used ChatGPT — or seen AI-generated text — you've likely spotted an em dash. The punctuation mark is not new, but it has been flung into the forefront of social media and everyday writing ...

AI's frequent use of em dashes is changing how people write. Many now avoid these punctuation marks to sound more human and less robotic. This trend highlights a new anxiety around writing, as perfect ...

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been giving this note to my editing clients: “Replace floating hyphen with proper em dash.” It comes up when I’m proofreading images, like PDFs, and I see a hyphen ...

The dash is the Kim Kardashian of punctuation marks: misplaced, over-exposed, shamelessly self-promoting, always eager to elbow out her jealous sisters the comma, colon, and semicolon. My friend and ...

The question mark, said Gertrude Stein, is “positively revolting”. She thought the exclamation mark was “ugly” and “unnecessary” too. Cormac McCarthy shuns the semi-colon and quotation marks. At times ...

As a rule, I prefer to make fun of myself rather than make fun of others, but in my previous column I departed from my usual approach. I poked a little fun at people who use dots and dashes as default ...

A debate surrounds the em dash, dubbed the 'ChatGPT hyphen'. Gen Z and social media users link it to AI content. However, literary figures like Jane Austen used it too. Its presence in AI stems from ...