Post B4az1LYDPNzPcxWNWq by zeldman@front-end.social
 (DIR) More posts by zeldman@front-end.social
 (DIR) Post #B4az1JqZk9UILK60rw by zeldman@front-end.social
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       Abandon the em-dash in your human writing?The irony—and it’s a big irony—is that real writers use em-dash frequently, and for reasons. As a written signifier of verbal speech pauses, it means something different than what commas and semicolons mean. It connects while separating. That’s why so many writers use em-dash when it is the best mark for the job. And chatbots use it because they were schooled on millions of writers.1/3
       
 (DIR) Post #B4az1K5opTgH6bEBd2 by vwestlife@mastodon.social
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       @zeldman I just type it the old-fashioned way -- and I don't use curly quotes, either.
       
 (DIR) Post #B4az1KhkYS1R0EyTke by zeldman@front-end.social
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       That this human thing real writers do is now a red flag to readers who mistrust AI is—as I said—ironic. And for editors, it’s frustrating, as it  presents a moral conundrum: 2/3
       
 (DIR) Post #B4az1LASpgzURIPPVY by zeldman@front-end.social
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       Replace a well-used em-dash with a comma so suspicious readers won’t mistakenly flag the text as AI-generated? I’ve done it. Particularly in bulleted lists where every list item includes a em-dash that could work as a colon, or when the writing is fairly dry—and thus potentially triggering for ticked-off hunters of AI signifiers. Le sigh. 3/3
       
 (DIR) Post #B4az1LYDPNzPcxWNWq by zeldman@front-end.social
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       Afterthought: Ultimately, the best defense is to write well. Write humanly. The closer you make it to that aim, the fewer the folks who will worry about the AI-or-human provenance of your words.Saved here: https://zeldman.com/2026/03/24/dine-n-em-dash/