Stop spamming the em dash everywhere

The first time I noticed the em dash, I thought it was a bug. An abnormally long bug. It was so mesmerizing — I couldn’t look away to keep on reading. Yet, I didn’t even know what it was called.

But once I asked my co-worker to show me how he types this weird thingy, I felt like I had joined a secret club.

What’s an em dash (—)?

As The Punctuation Guide explains, "The em dash is perhaps the most versatile punctuation mark." It can replace commas, periods, parentheses, colons, or semicolons, which follow more rigid usage rules. Sounds great, right? But flexibility can lead to abuse. And the em dash is no different.

Why’s the em dash so … attractive?

Typing the em dash feels like showing off a trick. And that requires practice — after all, there’s no dedicated em dash key. You have to study the shortcut or create a text replacement rule. It takes skill to pull off naturally.

And that gets you impressed looks from the people in the dark. Your ego only grows when they approach you about this symbol. “Glad you asked!” I’d start before going off about the different dash types.

Something about the design of the em dash makes you stare at it like Patrick Bateman at black-and-white business cards. You can feel the confidence pulsing from its fine form. There’s an extraordinary amount of white space around the glyph. It looks expensive.

It’s also unapologetically wide. If you put it somewhere in the middle of a paragraph, it seems like there’s a huge gap between the words. But it’s not empty — there’s an em dash.

And the best part? You can’t really go wrong with it. Sure, there are some rules of good taste. But if you find the balance, you can get away with the lack of punctuation variety.

So why not put the em dash everywhere?

Each punctuation mark conveys a certain meaning. When used properly, it helps you understand the idea and feel the way the writer intended. But if they spam em dashes everywhere, that meaning is lost. The text becomes hard to read.

For example: the period ends a sentence. It tells you to take a breath before you moving on to the next thought. But in the sea of em dashes — which are much easier to spot than a period — does that still hold true?

The existence of three different types of dashes doesn’t help. Of course, each has its own function. But if you’re fixated on just the em dash, you'll end up using it exclusively everywhere — often incorrectly.

Because of the em dash versatility, it’s tempting to use it in titles. Most often, I see it in meta titles, documentation headings, and file names, where space matters. But the em dash wastes so much!

Tips to follow

Two per sentence, a dozen per writing

Don’t use more than two em dashes in a sentence. Otherwise, it’s difficult to distinguish between primary and parallel thought. And, in general, don’t overuse them in your writing. As a rule of thumb, I try not to exceed a dozen of em dashes per five minute read.

Understand different punctuation marks

Learn what all the punctuation marks mean. It can be overwhelming at first, but they’re here for a reason. Again, The Punctuation Guide is a straightforward reference with examples. Once you know your options, it’s easy to avoid the missteps I’ve mentioned.

Mind the space

Where spacing matters (and grammar doesn’t), consider usinga colon (:), a vertical bar (|), or any other glyph that’s thinner than the em dash. Chances are that it’ll do the job and save you some space. Just make sure that it fits the context.

Hyphen your unordered lists

If you’re not sure which glyph to use for your unordered list, go with the hyphen. Most text editors will convert it into a properly formatted bullet point. However, if they don’t support nested bullets (or unordered lists), you can create them yourself using hyphens and em dashes.

And remember

An em dash can make or break your writing. Avoid it and you’ll be missing out. But shove it everywhere and you’ll come across as pretentious.