Dash
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the en dash –, generally longer than the hyphen but shorter than the minus sign; the em dash —, longer than either the en dash or the minus sign; and the horizontal bar ―, whose length varies across typefaces but tends to be between those of the en and em dashes.[a]
Usage varies both within English and within other languages, but the usual conventions for the most common dashes in printed English text are these:
Glitter, felt, yarn, and buttons—his kitchen looked as if a clown had exploded.
A flock of sparrows—some of them juveniles—alighted and sang.
Glitter, felt, yarn, and buttons – his kitchen looked as if a clown had exploded.
A flock of sparrows – some of them juveniles – alighted and sang.
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was fought in western Pennsylvania and along the present US–Canada border
Seven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice.
