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sixhobbits 11 hours ago

Grammatically an emdash is fine in most places a comma is fine. It adds a bit more emphasis to the bit after the dash.

I went to the grocery store, and bought tomatoes.

I went to the grocery store---and bought a Ferrari.

The second one has a bit more of a dramatic pause.

"Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" is a fun book with a great chapter about the dash with many good examples.

caconym_ 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Emdashes and commas aren't interchangeable, and your example there demonstrates one great reason why. The emdash establishes a discontinuity rather than one thing flowing into another, which is why the tomatoes don't merit one but the Ferrari does: you are using the emdash to emphasize the situational irony.

Going back to Anthropic's post:

> They’re the world’s most advanced models for coding and knowledge work---and their research capabilities offer an early glimpse of how AI models will contribute to scientific progress.

The first thing directly implies and flows smoothly into the next---or would, if not for the awkward emdash. There is no discontinuity, no twist or shift in context, no implied question and provided answer, no punchline. It's just distracting.

qlm 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Your first example shouldn't have a comma at all.

caconym_ 9 hours ago | parent [-]

IMO it will work better in some contexts than in others. If rhythm isn't a concern then yes, it could always be omitted.