/lit/ - Literature

>>17150512
>We invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin.

>cock-sore cooma

>>17150571
That an em dash?

>>17150602
obviously it's a hyphen, anon...

Suck my, dick

>>17150512
,

>>17150571
I love the em dash like fat chicks love cheesecake.

>>17150571
_

>>17150703
>>17150602
>learn about the em-dash
>start using it at work when drafting things
>my bosses delete them every time when they revise
>mfw

>>17150616
>hyphen
Nobody's turning to look at a hyphen. Not even if your main bitch is a comma only.

damn i didnt know there was a wider type of dash—based

>>17150759
alt-0151 ;)

>>17150713
He either doesn't know what they are or dislikes them. Just save yourself the trouble and stop using them for work.

I work for a major metropolitan government and the other day a statement came from our mayor's office where there was em dash placement that didn't make any sense. Whoever wrote it just put an em dash in the middle of a list of items (where a comma should be) for no reason in particular and it went out to the public as a press release. I guess that's what happens when you fill your bureaucracy with ESL beaners though.

>>17150520
kek

>>17150512
what is an oxford comma?

>>17150769
Yeah, have both that and the chromebook em dash shortcut stuck away in my muscle memory.

>>17150759
There's an en dash too, if you want something in-between.

>>17150801
It's just a comma that goes before the final conjunction in a sentence to separate the final noun or whatever from the ones before it. (See my pic.) It's also called a serial comma. You'd typically use it in a sentence listing multiple things, where you'd place it before the word "and" or "or."

>>17150512
Seems like not using the «oxford comma» could make things better.

>>17150801
There was A, B and C.
There was A, B, and C.

>>17150814
alt+0150

We should replace the ellipses ... with - – —

>>17150835
It usually helps eliminate ambiguity, and there's basically no reason to not use it—though sometimes people who aren't familiar with writing get tripped up when they're listing nouns and erroneously put what they think is an Oxford comma between two nouns that are paired together (ex. "We are serving plums, macaroni, and cheese, and pudding").

>>17150769
alt—0151

>>17150844
alt–0150

>>17150895
uh, ok- – —

>>17150861
They kind of do different things though. If you're writing dialogue, an em dash signals something akin to an interruption while an ellipsis represents dialogue that trails off.

>>17150835

Doesn't everyone write with the oxford comma? This is how Americans are taught

>>17150905
maybe this is how things trail off- – —

>>17150908
A lot of people don't know what they're doing.

>>17150571

Colons are great because they have an exact, unambiguous usage in introducing a series of something. Semicolons are only useful when commas become repetitive, which shouldn't happen unless your prose is ridiculous

>>17150928
both can be repealed and replaced with the chad em-dash

>>17150939
I guess. But as with anything, if you use it too much it becomes noticeable. That's why we have all the different tools to work with.

>>17150520
>>17150833
>>17150835
I used to like the Oxford comma, but now I'm starting to think it's reddit.

>>17150512
>OHMYGODNOT AAN OXFORD COMMA MY BOOK IS RUINED!!!!! REEEEEEE!!!!!
it literally doesn't matter OP

the lack of the oxford can cause a lot of drama.
the oxford causes no drama.
i go with the oxford
i live a drama free life

>>17151018
>He deleted the oxford comma he wrote on seeing a peasant boy make a list without it. He then exclaimed: "Fool that I am, to have been typing superfluous characters all this time!"

>>17150928
>Semicolons are only useful when commas become repetitive
shit take, just use them better

>>17150512

Doesn't everybody learn to write with the oxford comma? Just be normal lol stop being a fucking freak who everyone hates

>>17151109
>stop being a fucking freak who everyone hates
After a certain point the hatred of others becomes a status symbol, most of the people on /lit/ long ago mastered the mental skill of translating their lack of friends into a sign of intelligence.

>>17150833
This is a poor example because it shows how inconsequential the oxford comma is in most cases. Nobody would have thought that JFK and Stalin are the strippers.

>>17151130
Sorry but I looked it up and you are wrong.

>>17150979
hey wanna know what else is reddit
>existing
>breathing
>living
>not killing yourself
gee better stop doing all these things right now

>>17151199
None of that is reddit. But the form of your argument is reddit

>>17151217
based

>>17151076
Kek

>>17151217
>>17151199
Well, he's got you there, anon