Mastering the dash, Part 2

In Part 1, I said the dash follows few rules and is a flexible mark with many uses. With all those possibilities, how do you decide when to use a dash? Consider two key writing goals: breaks and emphasis.

According to June Casagrande in The Best Punctuation Book, Period, you can use the dash to indicate “breaks in a sentence” or “a change of sentence structure or thought.”[1] The dash signals a new direction, often abruptly, and might replace a heavier transition word:

  • Kaye will sell the yacht. However, the buyer must have financing within 30 days.
  • Kaye will sell the yacht—if the buyer has financing within 30 days.

The period signals a full stop. Here’s a new idea. The semicolon signals a pause; here’s a related idea. The dash signals a break—here’s something important. We saw this in an earlier example:

  • Chen does not object to the fee. She asks that it not be disclosed.
  • Chen does not object to the fee; she asks that it not be disclosed.
  • Chen does not object to the fee—she asks that it not be disclosed.

Dashes emphasize. In The Redbook, Bryan Garner calls the dash “a forceful and conspicuous punctuation mark.”[2] In the earlier example about Calhoun’s statement, the paired parentheses downplay the inserted clause, the paired commas are neutral, but the paired dashes emphasize it.

  • Calhoun’s statement, which was false, blamed the problem on Scoville.
  • Calhoun’s statement (which was false) blamed the problem on Scoville.
  • Calhoun’s statement—which was false—blamed the problem on Scoville.

Writers can also use a single dash to point, and that pointing is emphatic. In the following example, the second version highlights the lack of permission, and it’s all in the dash:

  • Jeffrey deleted the paragraph without checking with his co-author.
  • Jeffrey deleted the paragraph—without checking with his co-author.

As for the myth—I’ve met lawyers and teachers who frown on the dash, saying it’s too informal for legal writing. Some legal-writing teachers won’t allow their students to use it. I disagree. The dash is entirely appropriate for legal writing, especially persuasive legal writing. Yes, overuse might be a problem, so exercise judgment, but you should add the dash to your writing tool kit.

[1] June Casagrande, The Best Punctuation Book, Period 118, 119 (2014).

[2] Bryan A. Garner, The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style § 1.51 (3d ed. 2013).