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Author Topic: Dashes, hypens, and other lines  (Read 5302 times)

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Offline The Genuine

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« on: July 02, 2008, 12:14:51 PM »
In a signature, what would be the most appropriate lead-in to an attribution?

For example,

"We do chicken right!"

 - KFC

 -- KFC

 – KFC

 –– KFC

 — KFC

 — KFC
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Offline Tante Shvester

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« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2008, 01:44:18 PM »
I can't click on the voting options. This poll isn't working for me.
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Offline Farmgirl

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« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2008, 02:30:20 PM »
If it were me, I would do the quote in italics, then use the first option (non-italic).

But that doesn't mean that is by any means right. I have no idea what's right. That's just what I would do! :D  
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Offline The Genuine

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« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2008, 03:03:26 PM »
Farmgirl, I guess this is the time to bring it up:  shouldn't that be an em dash in your sig?

Also, where's that quote from?  I really like that.  Really sounds like of nifty for any profession.  (Except maybe garbage man.)
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Offline Jonathon

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« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2008, 05:44:55 PM »
The usual way is to do an em dash without any spaces around it.
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Offline The Genuine

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« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2008, 06:30:09 PM »
Oh dear Grammar Mercenary, are your eyes blue in that avatar or am I seeing things?
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Offline Jonathon

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« Reply #6 on: July 02, 2008, 08:10:12 PM »
Why don't you look closer? Yes, that's it . . . closer . . .  
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Offline Primal Curve

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« Reply #7 on: July 03, 2008, 10:09:23 AM »
Quote
Why don't you look closer? Yes, that's it . . . closer . . .
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Offline Neutros the Radioactive Dragon

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« Reply #8 on: July 03, 2008, 10:16:09 AM »
It's full of stars....
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Offline Jonathon

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« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2008, 08:21:12 PM »
I should probably point out that Rivka, being the linguistic anarchist that she is, probably thinks this is the right way of doing it:

·KFC


By the way, according to Chicago, quotation marks are generally omitted in epigraphs, with the quote or attribution often receiving some sort of distinctive typographic treatment like italics or indentation. They don't give any reasons why, though.  
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Offline Tante Shvester

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« Reply #10 on: July 08, 2008, 08:40:46 PM »
Quote
By the way, according to Chicago, quotation marks are generally omitted in epigraphs, with the quote or attribution often receiving some sort of distinctive typographic treatment like italics or indentation.
I never got to see the play, but I enjoyed the movie.  I don't remember that part, though, so either I missed it, or it was from the play.

Was it in the part where Richard Gere was tap dancing?  Because that was mesmerizing.
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Offline Jonathon

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« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2008, 08:43:14 PM »
I suspect that you're thinking of a different Chicago.
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Offline The Genuine

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« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2008, 08:45:51 PM »
Quote
I should probably point out that Rivka, being the linguistic anarchist that she is, probably thinks this is the right way of doing it:

·KFC


By the way, according to Chicago, quotation marks are generally omitted in epigraphs, with the quote or attribution often receiving some sort of distinctive typographic treatment like italics or indentation. They don't give any reasons why, though.
Is that a bullet with no space in-between?  Should I have hyphenated in-between?

That's great info, JB.  Thanks!
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Offline The Genuine

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« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2008, 08:46:16 PM »
So does the attribution go on the same line as the sig or one or two carriage returns under?
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Offline Jonathon

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« Reply #14 on: July 08, 2008, 08:59:29 PM »
That was a middle dot or interpunct, not a bullet. Bullets are larger. But I'm just razzing her about a discussion that happened on Hatrack.

As an adverb, "in between" has no hyphen. You could look it up. ;)

Attribution goes on the next line. But keep in mind that these guidelines are for epigraphs, not necessarily for signatures on forums.
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Offline Porter

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« Reply #15 on: July 08, 2008, 09:03:38 PM »
Chicago doesn't have an entry for signatures on forums? :fear:  
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Offline Jonathon

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« Reply #16 on: July 08, 2008, 09:15:22 PM »
Not yet. We can only hope the sixteenth edition remedies this glaring oversight.
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Offline Porter

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« Reply #17 on: July 08, 2008, 09:36:07 PM »
Then I won't have any excuse for being wrong!
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Offline Jonathon

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« Reply #18 on: July 08, 2008, 09:37:44 PM »
You can always write your own style guide and use it to defend your decisions.
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Offline Porter

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« Reply #19 on: July 08, 2008, 09:40:31 PM »
Heck, I'm still using "--" in my signatures.  

It's like I'm stuck in 1993.
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Offline Jonathon

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« Reply #20 on: July 08, 2008, 09:44:21 PM »
I wonder why nobody took the opportunity to change the keyboard when personal computers were invented. Why can't we ditch a few of the useless symbols and replace them with characters that people actually need?
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Offline Tante Shvester

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« Reply #21 on: July 08, 2008, 10:23:43 PM »
That thing in the upper left corner of my keyboard?  `

What's that for?  I don't even know what ` is called.
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Offline Jonathon

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« Reply #22 on: July 08, 2008, 10:43:36 PM »
It's a grave accent. How you actually use it, I have no idea. It's not like it automatically places itself over whatever letter you typed before or after it. Same with the tilde.
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Offline Tante Shvester

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« Reply #23 on: July 08, 2008, 10:46:21 PM »
So I have a grave accent, but not an acute one?

I want an umlaut and a circumflex, if they're handing out accents.


In addition to my charming New York accent.
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Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
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Offline Porter

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« Reply #24 on: July 09, 2008, 08:01:19 AM »
Quote
I wonder why nobody took the opportunity to change the keyboard when personal computers were invented. Why can't we ditch a few of the useless symbols and replace them with characters that people actually need?
Many of those symbols are used in programming languages or similar nerdy applications.

I regularly use all of of the symbols on my keyboard except for the grave mark.  That one we can kill.
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