Emdash fans!

[annethewriter1@universeodon.com]

@mcc

I only put the space after it, because if there is a space before it, the M-dash can awkwardly begin a line by itself, depending on text flow. Without the space, the M-dash stays with the previous word and guarantees correct line breakage.

[cstamp@mastodon.social]

@mcc Depends on how many characters are left in the post. 😁

[gustodon@mas.to]

@mcc Everything outside of the third answer is an incomprehensible circus of the insane.

[stevebrady@mastodon.social]

@mcc
I'm US and follow Chicago, but my story was published in Canada and they made my m-dashes into hyphens with spaces on both sides. So I think the norms vary by country and language?

[cthos@mastodon.cthos.dev]

@xgranade @mcc Just chiming in with "team spaces on both sides always".

[wifwolf@packmates.org]

@mcc

I usually only use it to indicate a sudden break of thought when spea—

It is a jovial stylistic quible with my friend who is an adherent of Chicago Standard

[kagan@wandering.shop]

@xgranade @mcc This is me, too: voted "spaces on both sides" without even thinking about it, but you reminded me that I do snuggle the em dash up against the stuff before it if and only if it signals an interruption.

Also, I use a non-breaking space on the left side. That way, the em dash is always kept with the word before it; there can never be a line-break before the dash. Only after. The dash can be the last thing on a line, but never the first.

[billd@universeodon.com]

@mcc I feel like the zero-width space (​ or U+200B) needs to be part of this discussion.

[kagan@wandering.shop]

@AnneTheWriter1 @mcc I use non-breaking spaces before the dash for exactly this reason. I *hate* when the dash comes at the beginning of a line.

[bucknam@mastodon.social]

@mcc Robert Bringhurst would like to have a word with everyone who answered this poll — except those who use spaces on both sides of an em dash.

[minego@pdx.social]

@mcc I'm so relieved that the majority of responses aren't from monsters.

[disorderlyf@todon.eu]

@mcc I almost never use them, but I typically don't use spaces when I do. I don't know if it'd say I'm "not a fan" because that implies malice where my actual feelings are apathy. I just personally reach for commas or semicolons before I typically reach for an em dash.

[thezorse@hear-me.social]

@mcc

Yes, but I usually just use a hyphen. It takes a couple of steps to do an em dash on a computer.

[ronjeffries@mastodon.social]

@mcc sometimes both sides for emphasis, but believe that no spaces is "correct".

[slotos@toot.community]

@mcc

Ukrainian — spaces around em dash always. Leading space is skipped when em dash starts the sentence on a new line of the dialogue.

English… no spaces around em dashes that surround parenthetical clauses, but in sentences like the first one, my Ukrainian habits win.

[leaverou@front-end.social]

@mcc IIRC Robert Bringhurst in The Elements of Typographic Style argues for thin spaces around the em dash. No option in the poll for that!

[brianenigma@xoxo.zone]

@mcc “Within text? Spaces — and on both sides. Used as an attribution byline? Only space on the left.” —Me

[aslakr@mastodon.social]

@mcc But maybe not full space? Like — this? In this case thin space. But not narrow non-break space as used in si units. like e.g. 42 km

[arem@mstdn.ca]

@mcc I space it the same way as a regular hyphen. Spaced if standalone - No space if part of a mind—bending compound word.

[mausmalone@mastodon.social]

@mcc my word processor of choice (Libre Office Writer) doesn't auto-correct to em-dash until after you hit the second space.