Posted on 05/30/2025 6:41:25 PM PDT by DoodleBob
Gen Z thinks they’ve figured out a dead giveaway that someone has used ChatGPT — and it might surprise you.
The em dash (—) is punctuation loved by writers everywhere, functioning like a comma, colon or a pair of parentheses. It can be used to sum up information at the end of a sentence, encase supplementary information within a sentence, emphasize a point or expand upon something that comes before it, according to Merriam-Webster.
But according to Gen Z, the dash is actually a so-called “ChatGPT hyphen.”
The phenomenon started gaining attention online after podcasters Daisy Reed and Sapna Rao, co-hosts of the “LuxeGen Podcast,” discussed it in a recent episode.
The clip went viral on X after a user shared it and wrote the caption, “The fact that Zoomers are unironically referring to the em dash as ‘the ChatGPT hyphen’ is wild.”
Reed pointed out that clothing brand PrettyLittleThing announced a rebrand on social media, and the top comment under the new ad copy was: “Including the ChatGPT hyphen is insane.”
The hosts jokingly shared a “public service announcement” to delete em dashes from your writing if you don’t want to be accused of using AI.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Crocodile Dundee moment: That's not an en dash (-). That's an en dash (–).
This is how they look against each other and what they're used for.
| - | Compound words, continuation, phone numbers |
| – | Ranges A–Z, 24–72 |
| — | Set off thoughts—an aside—in writing |
I have heard one sign of the onset of dementia is the use of more than two consecutive letter Os in a written word, sometimes accompanied by repetitive denials of hyphen usage.
;-)
No. Really! Completely new keys on the keyboard that no one knew about until now.
AI articles are crap and should be zotted on sight but then we might not have anything to talk about.
Thanks, that helps alot
Next week i wil, probably forget the rules myself lol. I only knew them this week because im writing a book, and looked into rules and grammar. My brain tends to forget stuff like that too easily though.
Well, thanks again and good luck on your book....
Would you please explain what the above is; I'm not certain that I understand what you mean. THANKS!
There are colleges and universities...I'm talking about 4 year schools from which one gets a diploma and a Bachelor/Master/Doctorate degrees from.
I also did grad school, but had a more defined major.
That's okay, no need to apologize. I'm just happy that we got this all settled.
Many thanks for validating what I had posted; much appreciated!
And I'm sure that your profs were as hard as mine were, when grading an original work. My favorite English prof was a fantastic teacher, but in order to get an A, was, unlike today, expected to be "perfect" in every single aspect.
Outside of Don Quixote, I don't think I've read any 17th century fiction novels; off the top of my head.
Yes, many from the 18th, but not all of Austen's.
I'm much more a fan of 19th-20th century works.
That would be even funnier! LOL
Even my grand, who is at university now, was taught cursive, but NOT the right way ( according to how I was taught it ), was taught it ( he did go to private school though ), but he and his friends don’t really use it; which I think is a shame.
The irony, since these are Large Language Models that scraped the Internet to get the ball rolling — including Free Republic — my love of the em dash is fueling ChatGPT nonsense stories.
Talk about making supposed "educated" people far stupider than they ever were before! People need to know how to write well, as well as many other things, which relying on AI and other such things, does NOT make anyone educated at all.
Sorry to be a "scold" about this; however, by correcting those things, proves my point; sadly.
I shan't reply in kind, but shall state, with confidence, that my memory is far superior to yours, as well as to many other pompous fools, who only imagine that they are superior and/or clever.
TY-
Yep- see post 79- The dashes have Been around for a very long time-
The Chicago Manual of StyleThe 13th Edition of A Manual of Style
Revised and Expanded
DASH
5.82 There are several kinds of dashes, differing from one another according to length. There are en dashes, em dashes, and 2- and 3-em dashes. Each kind of dash has its own use. The most commonly used dash is the em dash. In the following material, the em dash is referred to simply as "the dash." The other dashes are identified.
SUDDEN BREAKS AND ABRUPT CHANGES
... pages of explanation...
USE WITH OTHER PUNCTUATION
... pages of explanation...
Folks, I rest my case.
Regards,
Excellent observation!
Also German (esp. in the 19th century; Nietzsche was very fond of the em dash) and Russian (due to the fact that the verb "быть" is defective) makes more-extensive use of the em dash.
Regards,
What in tarnation is an "M dash?"
This article and thread are about the em dash (also about the 2-em and 3-em dashes).
Regards,
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