I’m guessing this list is defined by Mac users who all got taught em dash somewhere similar or for similar reasons. It is only easy to use on a Mac. But I wonder what is the 2nd common influence of users using it?

▲ fao_ 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

On Linux I just type (in sequence):

compose - -

and it makes an em dash, it takes a quarter of a second longer to produce this.

I don't know why the compose key isn't used more often.

▲ crabmusket 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

[As an English typer] Where is this compose key on my keyboard?

(This is a vaguely Socratic answer to the question of why the compose key is not more often used.)

▲ fao_ 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

As per the wiki article someone else listed — the compose key was available on keyboards back in the 1980s (notably it was invented only 5 years after the Space Cadet keyboard was invented!).

Some DOS applications did have support for it. The reason it wasn't included is baffling, and it's especially baffling to me that other operating systems never adopted it, simply because

    compose a '

is VASTLY more user friendly to type than:

    alt-+
    1F600

which I have met some windows users who memorize that combo for things like the copyright symbol (which is simply:)

    compose o c

▲ WhyNotHugo 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It’s not mapped to any key by default. A common choice is the right alt key.

I wrote a short guide about it last year: https://whynothugo.nl/journal/2024/07/12/typing-non-english-...

	▲	capitainenemo 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		My personal preference is the capslock key. I'm not using it for anything anyway

▲ layer8 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

In Vim it's Ctrl+K. ;)

▲ whilenot-dev 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

The compose key feels mandatory for anyone who wants to type their native langauge on an US-english layout. The combination[0] is "Compose--." though: –

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compose_key#Common_compose_com...

▲ teddyh 4 days ago | parent [-]

“Compose--.” produces an en dash, not an em dash. An em dash is produced by “Compose---”.

Source:

  grep -e DASH /usr/share/X11/locale/*/Compose

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mock-possum 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

As it should be. I wish this convention were present across more software, “-“ “- -“ and “- - -“ should be the UI norm for entering proper dashes in text input controls.

	▲	WhyNotHugo 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		Most software handles this fine if you configure your compositor to use a compose key.

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fao_ 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Whoops, yep that's the one

▲ Freak_NL 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is a misconception which keeps getting repeated. It's easy to use an em-dash on any modern Linux desktop as well (and in a lot of other places).

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chrismorgan 4 days ago | parent [-]

Though it does still require nominating a key to map to Compose. And is not generally meaningfully documented. So I’d only call it easy for the sorts of people that care enough to find it.

But then, long before I had a Compose key, in my benighted days of using Windows, I figured out such codes as Alt+0151. 0150, 0151, 0153, 0169, 0176… a surprising number of them I still remember after not having typed them in a dozen years.

	▲	stn8188 4 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		In electrical engineering I'm still using a few alt codes daily, like 248 (degree sign), 234 (Omega), 230 (mu), and 241 (plus or minus). I'd love to add 0151 to the repertoire, but I don't want people to think I used AI to write stuff....
	▲	1718627440 3 days ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		I've never bothered to read about the compose key, but en/em-dash is accessible (in Debian) with AltGr-(Shift)-Hyphen/Minus too. Copyright (©) is AltGr-Shift-C.
	▲	dolmen 4 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I miss the numeric keypad (gone on laptops) to be able to properly type my last name with its accentuated letter.

▲ nick__m 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Android — keyboard – good for endash to !

	▲	capitainenemo 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		My favourite android keyboard has a compose key and also a lot of good defaults in long touch on keys (including en and em under dash). Only downside is last android update causes the keyboard to be overlapped in landscape mode. A problem with a number of alternative keyboards out there. https://github.com/klausw/hackerskeyboard/issues/957

▲ 0x457 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's just em dash is the correct symbol, and typing it on Mac is simple: `cmd + -`

You can tell if I'm using mac or not for specific comment by the presence of em dash.

▲ throwup238 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Or, you know — iOS. That’s huge marketshare for a keyboard that automatically converts -- to —

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redwall_hp 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

Or Microsoft word. Many common tools in different contexts make it easy to do.

As it turns out, the differentiator is the level of literacy.

	▲	mock-possum 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		And whether the user cares to ‘write properly’ to boot. I love using dashes to break up sentences - but I rarely take the time to use the proper dashes, unless I’m writing professionally. I treat capitalization the same way - I rarely capitalize the first letter of a paragraph. I treat ‘rules’ like that as typographic aesthetic design conventions - optional depending on context.

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alchemist1e9 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

That probably explains everything from a statistical perspective about this em dash topic. I didn’t know that — Thanks.

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Philadelphia 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

You can also hold down the hyphen key and select it from the popup menu. En dash lives there, too.

▲ duncan_britt 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

In emacs, Ctr-x 8 <return> is how i type it. Pretty easy.