Re: EM dashes (was: What's an em)

At 08:32 PM 01-02-00 -0500, Jelks Cabaniss wrote:

>I don't know where this is coming from.  Are em-dashes (and, by extension
>em-spaces) now of variable width?

Nominal em-dashes are not always the full em width, because some type
designers wanted a way to put variable length dashes into font appropriate
to the design and for typographic traditions which do not employ full width
em dashes. Unfortunately, the existing em dash character seemed to many
manufacturers to be the best place to put these shorter dashes. 

Note that this does not imply any change to the standard width of an em, em
space or anything other than the dash, which is only nominally an em dash. 

John Hudson

Tiro Typeworks
Vancouver, BC
www.tiro.com
tiro@tiro.com

Received on Thursday, 3 February 2000 17:39:08 UTC