Dashes versus Hyphens
They're both lines in text, but dashes are long — and hyphens are short -.
Why?
Well, they do different things. Hyphens connect words, like five-year-old, and dashes deal with sentences and clauses. I use dashes for two things:
1. A dramatic pause before a punch line. "Yesterday my dog stuck his tongue in the light socket—it was a shocking experience!" Yeah, that's kind of a lame sentence, but give me a break. It's not even 8AM yet. The point is that a dash basically works like a semicolon, but with an even bigger "wait for it!"
2. To insert a snarky interruptor. "My teacher got up in front of the class, put his hands behind his back—he always did this when he had something "important" to say—and began to lecture us on good manners. Notice that the section inside the TWO dashes can stand on its own as its own sentence or independent clause. The dashes indicate to the reader that you're telling them this information behind your hand. It's just like putting something in parentheses, but the parentheses are more like a real whisper, whereas the dash is more of a stage whisper. In other words, it's brasher, and even though you are making some effort to hide it, you really want everyone to hear it.
1. A dramatic pause before a punch line. "Yesterday my dog stuck his tongue in the light socket—it was a shocking experience!" Yeah, that's kind of a lame sentence, but give me a break. It's not even 8AM yet. The point is that a dash basically works like a semicolon, but with an even bigger "wait for it!"
2. To insert a snarky interruptor. "My teacher got up in front of the class, put his hands behind his back—he always did this when he had something "important" to say—and began to lecture us on good manners. Notice that the section inside the TWO dashes can stand on its own as its own sentence or independent clause. The dashes indicate to the reader that you're telling them this information behind your hand. It's just like putting something in parentheses, but the parentheses are more like a real whisper, whereas the dash is more of a stage whisper. In other words, it's brasher, and even though you are making some effort to hide it, you really want everyone to hear it.
But I'm using a stupid Chrome Book and I can't find the button!!!! HELP!!!
Lame workaround: just hit the hyphen key twice: --
It's ugly and unprofessional, but people will get the idea.
MUCH BETTER WORKAROUND:
First, copy this em dash: --
In Google Docs, open the Tools menu. At the bottom is an option for "Preferences." Click on it. You'll see a bunch of options including a box that says "replace/with." In the replace box, type -- (that's two hyphens). In the With box, paste that em dash you just copied. Hit OK.
Now, whenever you type --, Google Docs will automatically convert it to —.
It's ugly and unprofessional, but people will get the idea.
MUCH BETTER WORKAROUND:
First, copy this em dash: --
In Google Docs, open the Tools menu. At the bottom is an option for "Preferences." Click on it. You'll see a bunch of options including a box that says "replace/with." In the replace box, type -- (that's two hyphens). In the With box, paste that em dash you just copied. Hit OK.
Now, whenever you type --, Google Docs will automatically convert it to —.