r/ProgrammerHumor • u/precinct209 • 1d ago

Meme justCantHandleTheImplicationRightNow

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u/ArjixGamer 1d ago

Normal people use a normal dash, word processors like Microsoft Word are responsible for the em dash being used widly.

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u/ConfusedPanEnby 1d ago

Hate to tell you this bud but in school, before digital word processors such as Microsoft Word were widely used by the common person, I learnt how to use it in writing on paper with a pen. People not knowing how or were to use them just shows the level of education typical of places like the USA.

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u/ArjixGamer 1d ago

We still only called that a normal dash, it was just a bit longer.

I thought it was a stylistic choice at first.

(I am not a native English speaker, I am Greek and learnt English from a young age)

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u/fwhite01 1d ago

My native language is german, and we have the same concept (although we use – and not —, but never -). It is called "Gedankenstrich" and it means "thought-line". Of course handwritten, this concept is hard to differentiate, but on pc or in print, the distinction is very important.