The em dash and I
A defence of the most misused mark in English, from someone who has drawn several hundred of them.
1 min read
The em dash is accused of being lazy — a comma that got ambitious, a colon without the commitment. I draw them for a living, and I think the accusation has it backwards.
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A comma joins. A colon announces. An em dash interrupts — and interruption is a real thing that sentences do.
Used well it is the only mark that carries the sound of a thought changing direction mid-flight. Used badly it is a shrug. The difference is whether you needed the interruption or just could not decide.
