Comment by raincole
3 days ago
Perhaps it's just me, but in my opinion, having not just two but three similar symbols is just bad design.
Before printing press became common, there was a time there were three punctuation marks[0]:
- dot
- dot but lower
- dot but higher
Very fortunately, that system got abandoned and we have comma and period now.
But then somehow, unfortunately, people invented a system where we have dash, dash but longer and dash but even shorter.
[0]: https://thejohnfox.com/2016/03/history-of-punctuation-signs/
Couldn't agree more. They are too visually similar in type, actually indistinguishable in handwriting without exaggeration, and our common digital text input methods were never designed to accommodate them.
As much as I consider these to be redundant and a waste of effort, I would genuinely be interested in a case being made for why they are good and useful to keep around.