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Green Light Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Is it proper to use a colon followed immediately by a hyphen?

:- (Is this CORRECT)
  

Top answer

It seems to be popular in Indian English punctuation and it has been accepted in the past in AmE and BrE, but it is no longer so. Use a colon only (formal) or an m-dash only (informal).

— Mister Micawber

  • It seems to be popular in Indian English punctuation and it has been accepted in the past in AmE and BrE, but it is no longer so.
  • Use a colon only (formal) or an m-dash only (informal).
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3 Answers
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It seems to be popular in Indian English punctuation and it has been accepted in the past in AmE and BrE, but it is no longer so. Use a colon only (formal) or an m-dash only (informal).
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There is a bit more to it than that. The dogsbollocks construction ( :- ) was very common in BrE until very recently indeed. It is essentially a manuscript construction, and used heavily in old (written) administrative and legal documents. It is still used in parliamentary documents, for instance, to present a formal list. It carried over into the world of typewriters seamlessly. Since the de
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