the three types of dashes are the hyphen, en-dash, and em-dash.
the hyphen is the shortest. it is used for word hyphenation, and is represented in TeX as '-'.
the en-dash is so-called because it is defined as having the width of a capital N. it is used to show ranges of numbers (like 1996--1998 or pp. 72--81). it is represented in TeX as '--'.
the em-dash is so-called because it is defined as having the width of (you guessed it) a capital M. it is used as punctuation--- perhaps this will give you an idea of how it's used. it is represented in TeX as '---'.
ASCII sucks for typesetting. this is why programs like TeX and SGML exist. we who dwell in the world of email still live in a barren, desolate place.
Slashdot Mirror
a mechanical engineering project at MIT is often machining Legos from Smarties-like sugar candy. you CAN eat Legos....
-krog
http://web.mit.edu/voodoo/www/jmac.html
we didn't win.
-krog
the three types of dashes are the hyphen, en-dash, and em-dash.
the hyphen is the shortest. it is used for word hyphenation, and is represented in TeX as '-'.
the en-dash is so-called because it is defined as having the width of a capital N. it is used to show ranges of numbers (like 1996--1998 or pp. 72--81). it is represented in TeX as '--'.
the em-dash is so-called because it is defined as having the width of (you guessed it) a capital M. it is used as punctuation--- perhaps this will give you an idea of how it's used. it is represented in TeX as '---'.
ASCII sucks for typesetting. this is why programs like TeX and SGML exist. we who dwell in the world of email still live in a barren, desolate place.
-krog