• underisk@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 day ago

    just swap them out with semicolons; no one knows how they’re supposed to work anyway

    • 🔍🦘🛎@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      1 day ago

      Semicolons should separate related ideas; they should work as independent sentences though.

      Em dashes–contrary to how most people use them–are for asides or supplementary information. I also see them used to show a conclusion–a direct response to a prior statement that doesn’t seem appropriate to put in a new sentence.

      • ulterno@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        2 hours ago

        I sometimes use semicolons when I realise I have been using too many commas and I don’t feel like breaking up into multiple sentences. So, kinda like a bigger comma.
        I understand that makes it wrong, though.

      • egrets@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        1 day ago

        Best choice is to switch out the em dashes for parentheses ( even where that doesn’t make any sense.

        • rumba@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          4 hours ago

          yeah, emoji or em dashes will get you hanged around these parts :)