Some Opinions about Dashes
"The dash has been described as the interruption, the mark of abruptness,
the sob, the stammer, and the mark of ignorance. The last name--which
might be equally well applied to the comma as crude writers use it--records
the fact that the uninformed mistake the dash for an all-purpose mark for
every possible occasion." [George Summey, American Punctuation]
"It [the dash] is a comfortable punctuation mark since even the most
rigorous critic can seldom claim that any particular example of it is a misuse.
Its overuse is its greatest danger, and the writer who can't resist dashes may
be suspected of uncoordinated thinking." [Cornelia and Bergen Evans]
"The dash is a handy device, informal and essentially playful, telling you that
you're about to take off on a different tack but still in some way connected
to the present course--only you have to remember that the dash is there,
and either put in a second dash at the end of the notion to let the reader
know that he's back on course or else end the sentence, as here, with a
period." [Lewis Thomas]
"In the dash, thought becomes aware of its fragmentary character. It is no
accident that in the era of the progressive degeneration of language, this
mark of punctuation is neglected precisely insofar as it fulfills its function:
when it separates things that feign a connection. All the dash claims to do
now is to prepare us in a foolish way for surprises that by that very token
are no longer surprising." [Adorno]
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