• ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org
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      9 months ago

      same length as the letter m on a typewriter

      Not really a typewriter, since the monospace 𝚖 and 𝚗 are effectively the same width. But yes, you are correct for 𝐦 and 𝐧 in type.

    • Pratai@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Aaaahhh…. So something one must know tech to understand in this context.

      My apologies for not being nearly as smart as you!

        • Pratai@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          It wasn’t blatant trolling, it was my being so autistic to not see the article was satire written from the perspective of a typographical mark

      • Schmeckinger@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Why do you need to know tech? You can take a pen and cut a sentence in multiple parts with long dashes instead of using spaces to signify a pause.

      • phneutral@feddit.org
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        9 months ago

        It is not tech but typography. The em dash is as wide as the small letter m. The en dash is as wide as the small letter n. These two letters are often used for referencing width in typography. There are other reference points, like the small letter x used for height.

        • Pratai@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I was unaware the article was satire. I thought em dash might have been another AI.

      • FearMeAndDecay@literature.cafe
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        9 months ago

        Dude this is about grammar not tech. They just gave you the physical description of what an em dash looks like and why it’s different to an en dash or a hyphen. As for the grammatical uses, hyphens are for like connected words like if you say half-sister. En dashes are technically for in between dates like July 19 – July 28. (People rarely use en dashes tho) Em dashes are similar to commas or parenthesis and have a wide variety of uses. For example you could say “I grabbed my AirPods—which had a cute Toothless case—and ran to the car, hoping I wouldn’t be late for school.”