14/02/2026
Em dash (—) versus En dash (–)
Let's settle this fight once and for all.
The em dash did not originate with AI. It has always existed in English punctuation.
For a long time, dash has been abandoned because we didn't need it as often. We had commas, semi-colons and brackets. Only a few times did we use dash as a dramatic part of our writing. This was so because most of us (in Nigeria) subscribed to the British way of writing even though our English teachers taught us that either British English or American English was safe to use. The only caveat was that you must not mix them. If you use British English then it must be British all through and if you are using American English, you must use it all through.
In Nigeria, British English was prevalent. We were colonised by the British and their English was all we knew. It was the way we wrote our dates, the way we expressed ourselves and the spellings too. How SAVIOR never felt complete without the U and TRAVELING looked like wrong spelling without the other L. So if you must write in American English, you have to learn a whole set of new rules, it means you were meticulous enough to take English Studies seriously.
Except for the Nigerian authors based in America, who wrote their English the American way, many of us were rooted in British English. But another English was influencing our British English quietly—the American English. Even before the Internet came to Nigeria, we read Harlequins, Avon Books, Mills and Boons. These were books written by Americans and published by American Publishing houses. These books came in American English. The quotation marks were double curly quotes and not single quotes, SAVIOR had no U and TRAVELING had no extra L.
These days, the Nigerian writers would mix British English with American English; no apologies!
Fast forward to when ChatGpt became a thing, everyone started using the dash. Em dash—the American preferred dash—became everyone’s favourite just because ChatGpt churns them out. ChatGpt uses the dash even when they are unnecessary. This has led to the AI witch hunting. I mean there is a group of people who haunts anyone caught using AI. (Sighs)
The em dash did not fall from the sky in 2023. It has always been part of English punctuation and American publishing simply uses it more freely in modern writing.
Now some writers are reacting by turning to the en dash, as if choosing one over the other proves originality. The en dash is shorter than the em dash but longer than the hyphen. Of course, no one should use hyphens in place of dash. That would be sacrilegious. (Covers face)
Let’s pause.
The em dash (—) is typically used to:
Insert emphasis
Mark an interruption
Replace commas, colons, or parentheses for stronger effect.
The en dash (–) is usually used for:
Ranges (2019–2022)
Connections (Lagos–Abuja flight)
Relationships between paired terms.
You don't need to replace your em dash with en dash, just understand when you need to use it and use it appropriately.
But most importantly, stick to one English.
Consistency is what signals seriousness.
©Booky Glover-Oyindamola, 2026
Author & Developmental Editor
