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I'm wondering if there is a name for the misuse of a dash in English Grammar. For clarity, I say 'dash' because I see them used in a way that the writer may think is an em dash, but more often writers online seem to use the hyphen symbol (-) rather than the dash symbol (—), possibly because it does not appear on all keyboards (particularly laptops without a numeric keypad).

I understand their correct use - em dashes to introduce parenthetical information and en dashes to indicate a range - but I often see them needlessly breaking up sentences, or being used in the place of a comma, such as these examples from a local newspaper:

  • When I accepted the invitation - I should have realised I was in it for it.
  • After a few minutes wait - the games began.

I have found articles about the misuse of commas, but I'd like to know if there is a proper name for any of these errors, as with some other grammatical mistakes, such as the 'comma splice'.

Astralbee
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  • Compare is it acceptable to use a single hyphen as a dash and lots of other questions (this covers the basics). It's not necessarily an error, but a matter of style. I doubt it has a more specific name than "character set limitation" or "using the wrong type of dash". – Stuart F Jul 20 '23 at 08:55
  • @StuartF That question does not have an accepted answer, although I do broadly agree with the popular answer but it does not answer my question at all. I've already noted acceptable use in my question, and I'm aware of what is widely considered 'misuse' - I just want to know if there is a name for it. – Astralbee Jul 20 '23 at 09:00
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    Hyphens are too frequently used where dashes are appropriate. You do it twice yourself ( '... correct use - em dashes to ...' should be '... correct use – em dashes to ...' or '... correct use—em dashes to ...'). But in your examples, ellipses are more appropriate, in the first example to show a pause for reflection then a change of focus, and in the second just a dramatic pause (= drum roll). – Edwin Ashworth Jul 20 '23 at 13:23
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    @EdwinAshworth Not sure you can say ellipses are 'more appropriate'. It's a style choice to include parenthetical information with ellipses, parenthetical commas, or em dashes. But I can see my mistake is to ask about 'hyphens' when I mean their use as dashes. – Astralbee Jul 20 '23 at 13:52
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    Ooh, I like dash splice for the two examples, which needed commas. – Yosef Baskin Jul 20 '23 at 14:10
  • Well, people of EL&U... I'm hugely disappointed, but not entirely shocked at the reception my first-ever question got. It feels like you downvote questions that you just don't like answering (or maybe because you can't). If this doesn't meet the criteria for the site, vote to close it. If it needs improvement, use the comments to offer suggestions for improvement, or explain why it isn't suitable. I mainly post on ELL, where there are still a few hyper-critical uses, but the OPs are usually grateful and treated with some respect, especially new ones. – Astralbee Jul 20 '23 at 14:24
  • Though style choices are certainly not mandated, that doesn't mean that there are not better choices. Ellipses signal a greater pause, which I'd certainly want in each sentence here. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 20 '23 at 14:30
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    @EdwinAshworth I'm not asking about better choices. That would be an opinion-based question and off-topic. I'm asking if such a word exists, yes or no. Are you able to authoritatively answer that question? – Astralbee Jul 20 '23 at 14:38
  • Sorry your post hasn't been received with much friendliness. We're pretty nice on the whole, though; it's possible the downvotes are a result of confusion. I suggest you create a meta-q if you're feeling particularly slighted. (Although I didn't find Greybeard's answer rude.) – Heartspring Jul 20 '23 at 15:01
  • The stated aims of ELU are to give (reasonably well) supported advice (data and analysis) on how English is actually used, and further, how best to use it (slang, for instance, is common but often unsuitable). The latter may well involve opinion, and that's why I responded in a 'comment' rather than an 'answer'. Questions are a springboard, a vehicle, and suggesting better practice is fair game. (I'd have tried to find different examples.) As to your actual question, it's unlikely that a recognised word exists. Note that Greybeard's answer has been downvoted, possibly for gross hypernymy. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 20 '23 at 15:24
  • Though reading the comments there, more probably not. But 'no there isn't' answers can hardly be more than opinion hereabouts when the OED board concede (paraphrasing) non-listing of a candidate does not mean it is not a word, Wiktionary lists around 710 000 headwords (the most for any English dictionary), and it was estimated that the lexicon reached 1 000 000 words several years ago. There is no final arbiter on wordness in the grey areas. // I'd just point out that this isn't typically considered a 'grammatical' mistake, but one of punctuation. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 20 '23 at 15:40
  • I'd call it typographical incompetence. – user8356 Jul 20 '23 at 20:20
  • @Astralbee: there may be a term for the particular use of language that is implied by the dash. You'd have to show us the language. The punctuation marks are themselves not an aspect of grammar in the strict sense of the word, which has to do with how language works, not with how language is represented by letters, dots, and squiggles. The rules governing punctuation are arbitrary conventions. Whether a mark is being misused or abused depends on the genre and venue of publication. In some kinds of writing, anything goes, in others, punctuation is governed by arbitrary editorial standards. – TimR Jul 21 '23 at 13:16

1 Answers1

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Your expectation that there might be a word relating solely to the misuse of various types of dashes is over-optimistic. Contrary to common mythology, English does not have a word for everything.

Merriam Webster:

mispunctuate: transitive verb

mispunctuation (¦)mis + noun

Word History Etymology MIS- entry 1 + punctuate

See also Collins

Greybeard
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  • Don't you think your answer is rather rude? I have no such expectation that English has a word for everything. If I did, my question would have been "what is the name", not "is there a name". Further, I don't think it is unreasonable to wonder that there might be such a word, given that I mentioned the 'comma splice', which is a specific kind of mispunctuation. This perhaps should have been a comment rather than an answer, although it still would have been rude. – Astralbee Jul 20 '23 at 09:40
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    No. I don't. "I have no such expectation that English has a word for everything." Then the generalisation does not apply to you. A comma splice is a relatively common grammatical error that occurs when a comma is used to join two independent clauses without a conjunction: this is far more likely to be a topic of conversation when teaching than the mysteries of en- and em-dashes, hyphens. – Greybeard Jul 20 '23 at 12:46