I can guarantee you that this will be the least exciting blog you will ever read. How do I know that. Because it is about the dash. That’s right, that little, horizontal line somewhere on your keyboard often beside the zero on the number row.
That keyboard dash is formally called a hyphen and has a very particular function. It is very often mis-used. It is meant to connect words that are related to one another.
If you want to connect a numerical range, then you should be using the en-dash. This is a longer dash that can be found in the symbols section of your word processor, or in the windows environment, by holding the <alt> key and typing 1050 on the numeric pad. This bad boy looks like –.
The en-dash has a close cousin called the em-dash. This long dash is used to connect discontinuous sections of a sentence or informally attribute a quote. Here’s an example from the CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers[1]:
The opinions expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not represent journal policy — The Editor.
It is not often used, but can be useful. Again, it can be found in your symbols library or, in Windows, by holding <alt> while you type 8212 on your numeric pad.
While I’m on the subject, none of these dashes is the same as a minus sign. The arithmetic minus (or negative) sign is around the same size as the en-dash, but is positioned differently to distinguish it. The minus sign looks like “−“, and can be found by typing <alt> 8722 on your windows numeric pad.
Okay. That’s it. I promise to find a more exciting blog the next time.
John @ ProofreadCanada
[1] Council of Science Editors. 2006. Scientific Style and Format: the CSE Mauual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers. Seventh Edition. The Rockefeller University Press, Retson, VA, USA.