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#1
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En and Em Dashes
I'm puzzled about the workings in Word 2003, at
Tools:AutoCorrect:AutoFormat-As-You-Type, of the "Hyphens with dash" option. Word's help says: "When you type a space and one or two hyphens between text, Microsoft Word automatically inserts an en dash ( - ). If you type two hyphens and do not include a space before the hyphens, then an em dash ( - ) is created." Does this reflect any kind of conventional distinction between en and em dashes in the world outside Word? Why not give the user the choice of which dash he prefers? |
#2
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En and Em Dashes
You do get the choice of the dash you prefer; you must just enter the
correct characters to get it. What MS has provided here is an easy way to enter en and em dashes in the way they are most commonly used in (respectively) the U.K. and the U.S. In the U.K., it is convention to use an en dash with spaces fore and aft in the way that we in the U.S. use an em dash with no spaces. Other uses of the en dash (which are common to both user bases) require entering the en dash manually, which you can do with Word's built-in keyboard shortcuts or others that you assign. Long before Word had these built-in shortcuts or the AutoFormat option, I assigned my own keyboard shortcuts to em and en dashes and en and em spaces, and they have become so natural to me that I use them without thinking. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Uriel" wrote in message ... I'm puzzled about the workings in Word 2003, at Tools:AutoCorrect:AutoFormat-As-You-Type, of the "Hyphens with dash" option. Word's help says: "When you type a space and one or two hyphens between text, Microsoft Word automatically inserts an en dash ( - ). If you type two hyphens and do not include a space before the hyphens, then an em dash ( - ) is created." Does this reflect any kind of conventional distinction between en and em dashes in the world outside Word? Why not give the user the choice of which dash he prefers? |
#3
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En and Em Dashes
What MS has provided here is an easy way to enter en and em dashes in the
way they are most commonly used in (respectively) the U.K. and the U.S.... Other uses of the en dash (which are common to both user bases) require entering the en [or em] dash manually As long as MS is providing an Autoformat option for dashes, why not serve everyone?? (Personally I prefer em dashes with spaces.) It'd be as easy as having an additional option on the Tools:AutoCorrect:AutoFormat-As-You-Type dialogue. Instead of using the spaces kludge to pack two meanings into the single "Hyphens with dash" option (whose workings no one could guess without referencing the Help), they could have "Hyphens with en dash" AND "Hyphens with em dash". It's true that ALT+CTRL+MINUS SIGN is no big deal, and I'll keep using that. But I wasted time exploring the false promise of AutoFormat. If they offer an option at all, I wish they'd implement it properly. "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... You do get the choice of the dash you prefer; you must just enter the correct characters to get it. What MS has provided here is an easy way to enter en and em dashes in the way they are most commonly used in (respectively) the U.K. and the U.S. In the U.K., it is convention to use an en dash with spaces fore and aft in the way that we in the U.S. use an em dash with no spaces. Other uses of the en dash (which are common to both user bases) require entering the en dash manually, which you can do with Word's built-in keyboard shortcuts or others that you assign. Long before Word had these built-in shortcuts or the AutoFormat option, I assigned my own keyboard shortcuts to em and en dashes and en and em spaces, and they have become so natural to me that I use them without thinking. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Uriel" wrote in message ... I'm puzzled about the workings in Word 2003, at Tools:AutoCorrect:AutoFormat-As-You-Type, of the "Hyphens with dash" option. Word's help says: "When you type a space and one or two hyphens between text, Microsoft Word automatically inserts an en dash ( - ). If you type two hyphens and do not include a space before the hyphens, then an em dash ( - ) is created." Does this reflect any kind of conventional distinction between en and em dashes in the world outside Word? Why not give the user the choice of which dash he prefers? |
#4
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En and Em Dashes
Suzanne:
I have tried every combination under the sun for "AutoFormat" and "AutoFormat as you Type" and no matter what, if I press -- twice, all I get is --. It doesn't matter if I have the "Hyphens with dash" checked or not. I cannot get the em-dash symbol unless I use Alt+Ctrl+Minus sign or Alt+0151 on the numeric pad. I have heard this same complaint from many others. Does it really work for anyone? What other settings do I need to be aware of? Thanks very much. -- Stu "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: You do get the choice of the dash you prefer; you must just enter the correct characters to get it. What MS has provided here is an easy way to enter en and em dashes in the way they are most commonly used in (respectively) the U.K. and the U.S. In the U.K., it is convention to use an en dash with spaces fore and aft in the way that we in the U.S. use an em dash with no spaces. Other uses of the en dash (which are common to both user bases) require entering the en dash manually, which you can do with Word's built-in keyboard shortcuts or others that you assign. Long before Word had these built-in shortcuts or the AutoFormat option, I assigned my own keyboard shortcuts to em and en dashes and en and em spaces, and they have become so natural to me that I use them without thinking. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Uriel" wrote in message ... I'm puzzled about the workings in Word 2003, at Tools:AutoCorrect:AutoFormat-As-You-Type, of the "Hyphens with dash" option. Word's help says: "When you type a space and one or two hyphens between text, Microsoft Word automatically inserts an en dash ( - ). If you type two hyphens and do not include a space before the hyphens, then an em dash ( - ) is created." Does this reflect any kind of conventional distinction between en and em dashes in the world outside Word? Why not give the user the choice of which dash he prefers? |
#5
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En and Em Dashes
-- isn't supposed to turn into an em dash. "Word--next" is supposed to turn
the two hyphens into an em dash *after* you type a space or punctuation after the "next". It only converts two hyphens between two words into an em dash. You can create your own AutoCorrect entry (Tools | AutoCorrect) to change -- immediately into an em dash. On 1/3/06 1:16 PM, "Oldies Guru" wrote: Suzanne: I have tried every combination under the sun for "AutoFormat" and "AutoFormat as you Type" and no matter what, if I press -- twice, all I get is --. It doesn't matter if I have the "Hyphens with dash" checked or not. I cannot get the em-dash symbol unless I use Alt+Ctrl+Minus sign or Alt+0151 on the numeric pad. I have heard this same complaint from many others. Does it really work for anyone? What other settings do I need to be aware of? Thanks very much. -- Daiya Mitchell, MVP Mac/Word Word FAQ: http://www.word.mvps.org/ MacWord Tips: http://www.word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/ What's an MVP? A volunteer! Read the FAQ: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ |
#6
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En and Em Dashes
The AutoFormat doesn't fire until you finish the following word. Type
word--word, and when you press the spacebar (or type punctuation) after the second word, the hyphens will be converted. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Oldies Guru" wrote in message ... Suzanne: I have tried every combination under the sun for "AutoFormat" and "AutoFormat as you Type" and no matter what, if I press -- twice, all I get is --. It doesn't matter if I have the "Hyphens with dash" checked or not. I cannot get the em-dash symbol unless I use Alt+Ctrl+Minus sign or Alt+0151 on the numeric pad. I have heard this same complaint from many others. Does it really work for anyone? What other settings do I need to be aware of? Thanks very much. -- Stu "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: You do get the choice of the dash you prefer; you must just enter the correct characters to get it. What MS has provided here is an easy way to enter en and em dashes in the way they are most commonly used in (respectively) the U.K. and the U.S. In the U.K., it is convention to use an en dash with spaces fore and aft in the way that we in the U.S. use an em dash with no spaces. Other uses of the en dash (which are common to both user bases) require entering the en dash manually, which you can do with Word's built-in keyboard shortcuts or others that you assign. Long before Word had these built-in shortcuts or the AutoFormat option, I assigned my own keyboard shortcuts to em and en dashes and en and em spaces, and they have become so natural to me that I use them without thinking. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Uriel" wrote in message ... I'm puzzled about the workings in Word 2003, at Tools:AutoCorrect:AutoFormat-As-You-Type, of the "Hyphens with dash" option. Word's help says: "When you type a space and one or two hyphens between text, Microsoft Word automatically inserts an en dash ( - ). If you type two hyphens and do not include a space before the hyphens, then an em dash ( - ) is created." Does this reflect any kind of conventional distinction between en and em dashes in the world outside Word? Why not give the user the choice of which dash he prefers? |
#7
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En and Em Dashes
Diaya:
You can create your own AutoCorrect entry (Tools | AutoCorrect) to change -- immediately into an em dash. You're absolutely right! I didn't realize that. Thanks very much. Stu "Daiya Mitchell" wrote: -- isn't supposed to turn into an em dash. "Word--next" is supposed to turn the two hyphens into an em dash *after* you type a space or punctuation after the "next". It only converts two hyphens between two words into an em dash. You can create your own AutoCorrect entry (Tools | AutoCorrect) to change -- immediately into an em dash. On 1/3/06 1:16 PM, "Oldies Guru" wrote: Suzanne: I have tried every combination under the sun for "AutoFormat" and "AutoFormat as you Type" and no matter what, if I press -- twice, all I get is --. It doesn't matter if I have the "Hyphens with dash" checked or not. I cannot get the em-dash symbol unless I use Alt+Ctrl+Minus sign or Alt+0151 on the numeric pad. I have heard this same complaint from many others. Does it really work for anyone? What other settings do I need to be aware of? Thanks very much. -- Daiya Mitchell, MVP Mac/Word Word FAQ: http://www.word.mvps.org/ MacWord Tips: http://www.word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/ What's an MVP? A volunteer! Read the FAQ: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ |
#8
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En and Em Dashes
Glad to help. I had to set one up myself as it was driving me crazy when I
went back and edited. On 1/3/06 2:58 PM, "Oldies Guru" wrote: Diaya: You can create your own AutoCorrect entry (Tools | AutoCorrect) to change -- immediately into an em dash. You're absolutely right! I didn't realize that. Thanks very much. Stu "Daiya Mitchell" wrote: -- isn't supposed to turn into an em dash. "Word--next" is supposed to turn the two hyphens into an em dash *after* you type a space or punctuation after the "next". It only converts two hyphens between two words into an em dash. You can create your own AutoCorrect entry (Tools | AutoCorrect) to change -- immediately into an em dash. On 1/3/06 1:16 PM, "Oldies Guru" wrote: Suzanne: I have tried every combination under the sun for "AutoFormat" and "AutoFormat as you Type" and no matter what, if I press -- twice, all I get is --. It doesn't matter if I have the "Hyphens with dash" checked or not. I cannot get the em-dash symbol unless I use Alt+Ctrl+Minus sign or Alt+0151 on the numeric pad. I have heard this same complaint from many others. Does it really work for anyone? What other settings do I need to be aware of? Thanks very much. |
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