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Grammatically an emdash is fine in most places a comma is fine. It adds a bit more emphasis to the bit after the dash. I went to the grocery store, and bought
by sixhobbits 16d ago
Grammatically an emdash is fine in most places a comma is fine. It adds a bit more emphasis to the bit after the dash.
I went to the grocery store, and bought tomatoes.
I went to the grocery store---and bought a Ferrari.
The second one has a bit more of a dramatic pause.
"Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" is a fun book with a great chapter about the dash with many good examples.
- caconym_ 16d agoEmdashes and commas aren't interchangeable, and your example there demonstrates one great reason why. The emdash establishes a discontinuity rather than one thing flowing into another, which is why the tomatoes don't merit one but the Ferrari does: you are using the emdash to emphasize the situational irony. Going back to Anthropic's post: > They’re the world’s most advanced models for coding and knowledge work---and their research capabilities offer an early glimpse of how AI models will contribute to scientific progress. The first thing directly implies and flows smoothly into the next---or would, if not for the awkward emdash. There is no discontinuity, no twist or shift in context, no implied question and provided answer, no punchline. It's just distracting.
- qlm 16d agoYour first example shouldn't have a comma at all.
- caconym_ 16d agoIMO it will work better in some contexts than in others. If rhythm isn't a concern then yes, it could always be omitted.