Ross Johnson wrote:
AFAIKS, user_guide2_draft (under the section Hyphen, en dash and em
dash) describes a very useful method for creating dashes (which
effectively disables the built-in AutoReplace double dash functions),
but it doesn't mention the [built-in] methods.
On the other hand, the Online help describes the Auto-replace dashes
option as "This option replaces one or two minus signs under certain
conditions with a long dash". This could definitely use some of Jallan's
description. A little experimenting shows that:
A-B is unchanged (hyphen)
A- B is unchanged
A-- B is unchanged
A - B and A -- B are changed (en-dash with space before and after)
A -B and A --B are changed (en-dash with no space after)
A--B (em-dash with no space before or after)
So for the en-dash, the space before is the key, and for the em-dash no
space before or after is the key.
Where you want A - B or A = -B to remain unchanged (math formulas etc)
you need to use the no-break hyphen (no-break minus in this case). As
there is A -- B or A --B, why can't the single hyphen be left unchanged
in every situation?
I suppose for two reasons:
1) MS Word doesn't do it that way ;-)
2) One of the most common ways that people fake a dash on the
keyboard is using a single hyphen surrounded by spaces. Accordingly it
is reasonable that this be typographically enhanced.
The proper MINUS SIGN in Unicode is U+2212 and appears quite commonly in
fonts. It is normally less narrow than the hyphen and often higher. It
should be the same width as + × ÷ = < and > and be centered on the same
vertical position that they and any other mathematical operators in the
font are centered on.
However, it is a common typographical practice, if a minus sign is not
available when needed, to substitute an en-dash rather than use a
hyphen. The hyphen is far too short in most proportional fonts. And in
some fonts, such as Goudy Old Style, the hyphen is even set at a slight
angle. Automatic changing of hyphen to en-dash in mathematical formula
is justifiable as at least better typography than use of the hyphen.
(I suspect most users don't even notice it is happening.)
Jallan
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