![]() ![]() The idea is that the en dash ties “Chicago” not just with “York” but with “New York.” It literally bridges the space between words. That example also suggests a relationship-freight traffic between New York and Chicago-but the stated rationale for the example was the open compound. What we’re looking for is the more elusive case of the en dash with an open compound.* En Dashes with Open CompoundsĬMOS, in its 1906 first edition, specified an en dash in place of a hyphen not only in ranges but also in the case of a compound adjective before the noun “where one of the components contains more than one word” (¶ 167): ![]() And like en dashes in number ranges, these alternative dashes are common. In Chicago style, the em dash-with no space on either side-is preferred.īut anyone can spot an ordinary dash. ![]() In contemporary British style, the en dash – with space before and after, as in this sentence – may be used as an ordinary dash, or what’s sometimes called a parentheses dash. This use of the en dash, as a longer and more visible hyphen, is both practical and aesthetic: “123–24” is easier to read than “123‑24.” For most book publishers and many others, this use remains standard. One of the earliest mentions of the mark in the Oxford English Dictionary, under “en, n.,” cites the original 1893 edition of Hart’s Rules, the in-house style guide for Oxford University Press:Įn rules are to be used in such cases as 1880–1, and not hyphens or em rules. The en dash was once used almost exclusively as a shorthand for “to,” as in number ranges. It’s longer than a hyphen but typically about half the length of an em dash, which was traditionally defined as the width of the letter M in a given font at a given size: The en dash, also called an en rule, gets its name from the letter N. ![]()
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