[A_perfect_lady]

Older writing uses it a lot. Fiction from the 1700s and 1800s, for instance. There's over 450 of them in Pride and Prejudice alone:

“Oh, you mean Jane, I suppose, because he danced with her twice. To be sure that did seem as if he admired her—indeed, I rather believe he did—I heard something about it—but I hardly know what—something about Mr. Robinson.”

[nopardons]

That's interesting and something I did not know; so many thanks for the info!

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.

[Bob434]

Yep- see post 79- The dashes have Been around for a very long time-

[alexander_busek]

Older writing uses it a lot. Fiction from the 1700s and 1800s, for instance. There's over 450 of them in Pride and Prejudice alone:

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,

[alexander_busek]

There's There are over 450 of them in Pride and Prejudice alone

Depends upon the version you are referencing. E.g., the serialized version contains a whopping 465 em dashes. I know because I just counted them.

(Heh-heh!)

Regards,

P.S. Did you folks know that ChatGPT and Co. can read your FR comments even before you have officially posted them? It's true!