This post was prompted by some discussion at TPGi about the use of em dash punctuation, on two fronts:
- Is the use of the em dash making our posts look like they were generated by A.I.?
- How do screen readers convey em dashes?
TL;DR:
- An em dash (or long dash) separates two thoughts or concepts.
- An en dash (or dash) joins two thoughts or concepts.
- A hyphen joins two words to form one word or represents a break in a word.
- A minus symbol subtracts one mathematical value from another, or identifies a negative number.
- Using the correct HTML entity is better for screen readers.
- A.I. is not a good reason to change punctuation practice.
Since there are no hard and fast rules on their use that affect meaning, and the most authoritative references agree to disagree on which dash to use — or even whether to use one at all — you could say, 1-10, this is all a bit of a storm in a tea–cup — or teacup.