In Defense of the Em Dash — That Sexy, Suspicious Line
Ah, the em dash — that long, slender punctuation mark that sends internet grammar warriors into full-on witch hunt mode. Lately, it’s been crowned the ultimate AI tell. Apparently, if your sentence has one — bam — you must be a robot, or worse, a writer who paid for ChatGPT and now thinks she’s Virginia Woolf reincarnated.
Well, guess what? I’m not AI (yet), and neither was Octavia Butler — and she used em dashes like seasoning in Wild Seed. Spicy, precise, and sometimes just there to punch a line into shape. So can we all calm down, pull up a cup of something strong, and talk about this over-maligned punctuation?
The Em Dash: A Brief, Human History
Long before algorithms were churning out think pieces and fanfic, the em dash was chillin’ in the world of typesetting. It’s called “em” because it’s the width of the capital letter “M” — because 18th-century printers loved drama and geometry. And since its debut, writers have loved it for the same reason they love coffee and literary feuds: it gives structure, pause, tension — all in one sleek little line.
Emily Dickinson loved her em dashes so much, her poetry practically vibrates with them. She wasn’t AI. She was just introverted and way ahead of her time — like if your favorite soft-spoken goth girl was also revolutionizing American poetry in secret. Nobody accused her of being a robot.
Why the Internet Hates It
Somehow in 2024, the em dash got put on trial. The evidence? AI tools like to use it. And yes, AI does tend to overuse the em dash — just like it overuses inspirational quotes, the word “journey,” and sentences that go “in a world where…” And let’s not even talk about Reddit users…I’m on there, I’m fighting them, too.
But here’s a wild idea: maybe it’s not the em dash that’s robotic. Maybe some folks just haven’t read enough actual books lately. Because if they did, they’d see Toni Morrison used it. So did James Baldwin. Maya Angelou? Yup. George Orwell? Absolutely. You know who didn’t use it? People who wrote manuals for microwave ovens — and those definitely weren’t AI.
What the Em Dash Actually Does
The em dash is the Beyoncé of punctuation. It’s better than Kendrick Lamar dissing Drake. It’s Taylor Swift — married (why do I want to see her boo’d up forever with Travis Kelce?) and dropping her Wedding Album and wedding album. It breaks up the beat, commands attention, and when used well, makes everything feel a little more dramatic, a little more alive. It can:
Interrupt a sentence — like so.
Replace a colon — for extra flair.
Add a little surprise, like a twist ending — or a passive-aggressive comment.
It’s not lazy. It’s not robotic. It’s just… versatile. And yes, sometimes it’s misused. Just like the semicolon. Or quotation marks around random words to be “funny.” (shudder)
Final Word — Use It and Keep It Moving
Look, the em dash isn’t a smoking gun for AI-generated content. It’s a tool. A beautifully misunderstood tool that makes language more fluid, more expressive — more human. If we start banning things just because a robot uses them, what’s next? Ban breathing? Winking? Sourdough?
Octavia Butler used it. You can too. With confidence. With power. And with exactly zero need to explain yourself to the Internet Grammar Police.
So dash on, my darling — dash on.