this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
74 points (100.0% liked)

chat

8380 readers
305 users here now

Chat is a text only community for casual conversation, please keep shitposting to the absolute minimum. This is intended to be a separate space from c/chapotraphouse or the daily megathread. Chat does this by being a long-form community where topics will remain from day to day unlike the megathread, and it is distinct from c/chapotraphouse in that we ask you to engage in this community in a genuine way. Please keep shitposting, bits, and irony to a minimum.

As with all communities posts need to abide by the code of conduct, additionally moderators will remove any posts or comments deemed to be inappropriate.

Thank you and happy chatting!

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
EmmaGoldman@hexbear.net
ZoomeristLeninist@hexbear.net
SexUnderSocialism@hexbear.net
Sulv@hexbear.net
74
— is easy to type and it's unfortunate that it is considered an indicator of AI generation (hexbear.net)
submitted 2 days ago by quarrk@hexbear.net to c/chat@hexbear.net
94 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

You literally can just long press the normal hyphen on the iOS keyboard, probably similar in Android

So, you saw an em dash in a sentence and immediately screamed “AI!”? Hold up. That long, dramatic line — yeah, that one — has been around way before ChatGPT slid into your DMs. Writers have been using em dashes for centuries to spice things up, create vibes, and break the rules in the coolest way possible.

Here’s the tea: the em dash is a tool, not a tell. Just because an AI uses it doesn’t mean it’s some secret signature. You know who else uses em dashes? Literally every author who’s ever wanted to sound clever, casual, or just a little chaotic.

So next time you spot an em dash, don’t panic. It’s punctuation, not a personality test.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] quarrk@hexbear.net 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

it doesn't have the same effect as –

Not sure if you’re trolling, but that is an en dash, the middle child of the dashes. Used specifically for indicating ranges. E.g. year 1900–1902, numbers 0–9. The meaning is different from the slightly longer em dash

[–] tocopherol@hexbear.net 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Ah thanks, I'm on mobile, I wasn't sure which was the —em— on my keyboard, I don't use any of these highfalutin text lines normally