Shall I say

Question

HiCould you please help me punctuate this sentence? My attempts are these.He was very, shall I say rude?He was very-- shall I say -- rude.He was very, shall I say, rude.Thanks,TomPS: I could not put m-dash in the second sentence. But it is m-dash.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Mr. TomCould you please help me punctuate this sentence?

The sentence is "He was very rude." "Shall I say" is parenthetical, like "so to speak". It may look like a question, but it is really just rhetorical. Use commas whenever possible because they are the least intrusive mark and distract the reader the least. If you go for the heavier marks and miss, they will stick out like a sore thumb. I would use "He was very, shall I say, rude."

Mr. TomPS: I could not put m-dash in the second sentence. But it is m-dash.

The em (note the spelling) dash can often be made with an alt code, ALT/0151 (hold down the ALT key while typing the number), like this: —. In Britain, it is usually made even in print with a hyphen and two spaces, like this: very - shall I say - rude. Sometimes you see three hyphens for an em dash, and in fact some word processors will automatically produce an em dash when you type that: very--~~shall I say~~--rude. Incidentally, two hyphens will get you an en dash in that world.

Shall I say

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