proper use of the dash

A staff member sent out an e-mail from Sen. Obama today. The 108-word message contains four dashes, none of which is correct.

Christina –

I am so lucky to be married to the woman who delivered that speech last night.

Michelle was electrifying, inspiring, and absolutely magnificent. I get a lot of credit for the speech I gave at the 2004 convention — but I think she may have me beat.

You have to see it to believe it.

And make sure to forward this email to your friends and family — they’ll want to see it, too.

You really don’t want to miss this.

And I’m not just saying that because she’s my wife — I truly believe it was the best speech of the campaign so far.

Barack

The dash is an emotional punctuation mark used to signal an interruption of thought, a shift in thought or an abrupt break. It is overused.

There are only six situations that call for a dash, according to longtime editor Harry Shaw.

1) Separation
To separate a final clause summarizing an idea or series of ideas. “Charisma, candor, insight — these were the marks of Michelle’s speech.”

2) Termination
To indicate an unfinished statement or word. “I’m so proud of –”

3) Interruption
To indicate an interruption in thought or speech.
“I’m in St. Louis –”
“Daddy, what city are you in?”

4) Introduction
To introduce a word or group of words that merit emphasis. “What she needed to show she did–patriotism.”

5.) Enclosure
To enclose words or ideas you want to emphasize sharply or emphatically. “I think — no, I am positive — Michelle’s speech was the best of the campaign.”

6.) Omission
To indicate the omission of letters or words. “January-August.”

That being established, none of the dashes in Barack’s e-mail is necessary. Here’s how I would punctuate the note.

Christina,

I am so lucky to be married to the woman who delivered that speech last night.

Michelle was electrifying, inspiring, and absolutely magnificent. I get a lot of credit for the speech I gave at the 2004 convention, but I think she may have me beat.

You have to see it to believe it.

And make sure to forward this email to your friends and family; they’ll want to see it, too.

You really don’t want to miss this.

And I’m not just saying that because she’s my wife: I truly believe it was the best speech of the campaign so far.

Barack

A good old-fashioned comma works better than the first two dashes. In place of the third dash, I used a semicolon, which connects related thoughts. Use a semicolon to continue the thought begun in the first sentence. Lastly, I used a colon because the second sentence explains or answers the first statement.

And there you have it, a dash-free e-mail.