Could anyone tell me.

Question

The usage of !! These ... I mean exclamation mark.

And these - (hyphen)

And what are these called -- (long hyphens?)

And what exactly are their usage.

Please help me understand these 3 with the help of examples. Thank you

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

You should buy a stylebook. Any bookstore will have a writer's guide that will explain punctuation. I have been unable to find a website that is worth anything. Your question is bigger than you think, but I will give you the basics.

seraph42The usage of !! These ... I mean exclamation mark.

This is a useless mark of punctuation that serves only to ex

seraph42The usage of !! These ... I mean exclamation mark.

This is a useless mark of punctuation that serves only to expose inept beginner writers. OK, that is an overstatement, but not by much. When you are tempted to use an exclamation point, try it without it first.

Its original purpose was to mark inversions that are not interrogatives, like "O, what a good boy am I!" It can still be used for that. Another legitimate use is in dialogue to signify loudness, but even there it can't do everything all by itself. It can be used to mark a salient point, but it is always far better to use words for that.

seraph42And these - (hyphen)

This has many uses. It is used to form compound nouns, more in Britain than in the US, where we make them into one word or leave them twain, like "make-up" (BrE) and "makeup" (AmE) or "lorry-driver" and "truck driver". Certain numbers use hyphens, like "forty-two". Hyphenate compound adjectives used attributively, like "well-known fact". There are too many uses to list here.

seraph42And what are these called -- (long hyphens?)

That is nothing, as far as I know. Some word processors will produce an en dash if you type that. The en dash is best left to the editors. Ue a hyphen.

CalifJim · Answer

You can read a lot about punctuation online.

Here's a list of articles about em-dashes and en-dashes for a start.

https://www.google.com/search?q=em-dash+vs+en-dash&source=hp&ei=T_sXYvrFNbqUwbkPqL-5iAo&iflsig=AHkkrS4AAAAAYhgJX7h1-vHuLBVnWjtheU_KPuMrAb4p&oq=em&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYADIECAAQQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzIICAAQsQMQgwEyCAgAEIAEELEDMggILhCABBCxAzoLCAAQgAQQsQMQgwE6CAguELEDEIMBOg4ILhCABBCxAxDHARDRAzoFCAAQgARQAFhSYPoSaABwAHgAgAGBAYgB_gGSAQMwLjKYAQCgAQE&sclient=gws-wiz

CJ

Could anyone tell me.

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