Template:Longdash
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———
This template creates a long dash, 3 ems in length.
In older modern novels it is common for names of people and places, and sometimes dates, to be abbreviated by use of a long dash. The purpose of these dashes was to provide anonymity without losing veracity — as if to say that the writer is able to provide the name/date but has chosen to censor themselves. In more informal writing (such as letters) it was also sometimes used as an abbreviation for a name already provided in full.
This template provides a long dash constructed using three em dashes, with the spacing between them adjusted by 0.25 em.
Usage
| Wikitext | Output |
|---|---|
| "I do not as yet see my way to going as far as Lord B{{longdash}}." | "I do not as yet see my way to going as far as Lord B———." |
In situations like the above it can also be useful to wrap the whole word in a non-wrapping template, to avoid a mid-word line break:
"…far as Lord {{nowrap|B{{longdash}}."}}
See also
- To hyphenate words, use a hyphen; this is available on nearly all keyboards.
- To express from-to ranges, such as "January–February 1886", use an en dash; see {{ndash}}
- For dashes that divide sentence fragments, use an em dash. {{--}} renders an em dash without surrounding hairspaces.
- For a variable-length mid-height bar consider {{bar}}.