Comment by chownie
3 years ago
FYI this is a pretty condescending response to come back to. From the site guidelines:
> Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.
Moving on from that.
> In this exact context, the question is whether all three punctuation marks are needed when literally none of them is distinctive enough as punctuation from the other two. If you read the comment to which I had replied, you will see them also make that point.
Indeed I did read it, I disagree.
Going back to your original comment I don't think it's reasonable that you've never seen an em-dash in "business or personal writing" but I would totally accept that you haven't noticed the punctuation in those contexts. This is partly my point, if these marks are used correctly then it makes sense you've never spotted them.
I'm saying that the people who read literature containing en and em dashes would notice the difference were they not there. I'd echo what another commenter said: these marks wouldn't be missed until they're gone but we would definitely miss them.
I wasn't expressing condescension but that you would have had a better understanding of what was being discussed after you would have read the thread. You should work at following the exact site guideline that you quoted, instead of making assumptions about my day-to-day communications and commenting about those non-existent communications.
> Going back to your original comment I don't think it's reasonable that you've never seen an em-dash in "business or personal writing" but I would totally accept that you haven't noticed the punctuation in those contexts. This is partly my point, if these marks are used correctly then it makes sense you've never spotted them.
What I was saying is that I don't see them in my day-to-day activities, which I don't. You are making assumptions about what type of communications I am involved with daily, and the types of people I communicate. I communicate with cryptographers and security professionals who all use mono-spaced text. I also communicate with C-level people who barely need to use punctuation other than a period. They have mastered brevity and communicate exceeding well.
It would make far more sense if you wrote, "I don't think it's reasonable that chownie has never seen an em-dash in business or personal writing."