• TomasEkeli@programming.dev
    52·
    22 days ago

    dashes cannot always replace commas, but commas can replace dashes.

    thus - commas are more powerful

    thus, commas are more powerful

    • Jax@sh.itjust.works
      61·
      21 days ago

      Amusingly enough, one use case for em dashes is a pause where a comma would be too weak — refuting your assertion.

      Also, you used a hyphen.

      • TomasEkeli@programming.dev
        23·
        21 days ago

        not actually a hyphen, a minus (not that this matters to me in the slightest)

        I’m sorry, but “the pause is too weak” sounds squarely in the area of faffery to me.

        • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.netEnglish
          51·
          21 days ago

          hyphen and minus is the same punctuation symbol in different contexts, at least how most people, including you, signify the mathematical symbol.

          • hyphen: -
          • minus: -
          • en-dash: –
          • em-dash: —

          so… yeah. pretty clear it doesn’t matter to you since you speak authoritatively about it while being incorrect

              • TomasEkeli@programming.dev
                22·
                21 days ago

                it’s like being an atheist and therefore not caring about the details of transsubstantiation. irrelevance.

                • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.netEnglish
                  3·
                  21 days ago

                  it’s interesting you would phrase your simile like that because it seems much more like being an atheist and then having a strong opinion that the miracle of transubstantiation happens in the hindgut, even though no theology calls for that.

        • Jax@sh.itjust.works
          3·
          21 days ago

          It’s more along the lines of the comma is too weak for the pause. Likewise, there are places where the em dash is too strong for the pause.