𝗜𝗡 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗠-𝗗𝗔𝗦𝗛

Not giving it up without a fight!

*I WROTE THIS POST FOR LINKEDIN LAST WEEK AND THOUGHT IT SHOULD ALSO LIVE HERE. LONG LIVE THE EM-DASH—WE ARE TAKING IT BACK! *

We need to talk about the em-dash witch hunt that's happening right now.

For years, the em-dash has been my ride-or-die punctuation. While other people were out here using boring semicolons and predictable commas, I was strategically placing em-dashes like a punctuation ninja. Every team letter, every town hall presentation, every brand story I've crafted has had my signature trifecta: culturally relevant puns, the word "zeitgeist", and em-dashes placed with precision.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹—𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮.

Em-dashes create an ideal spotlight for the parts of a sentence that deserve a moment in the sun. They're the punctuation equivalent of a perfectly timed pause in stand-up comedy.

But now the LLMs have also fallen in love with this dramatic little punctuation (more love bomb than in love, actually). And everyone is now saying, "𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘈𝘐 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺—𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘮-𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴!"

And while, sadly, yes, that is true. What’s also true is that not all em-dashes are AI-placed.

My em-dashes aren't algorithmic. They're authentic. They've been part of my writing DNA since before ChatGPT was crafting the world's content. I've tried to give them up, but honestly, life is just too boring and bland without them. My sentences feel void of personality without those perfectly placed pauses.

So, here's my challenge: if you know what three keys to hit on your keyboard to create an official em-dash (without Googling it), you're an actual OG em-dash user. Keep using them proudly, with purpose, and strategically placed to perfection.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗺-𝗱𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗜 (𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗝𝗲𝗻) 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁.

The em-dash isn't a snitch—it's just misunderstood.

—Jen