1. Rumwriter

    Rumwriter Active Member

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    Hyphen or comma

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Rumwriter, Apr 24, 2014.

    "We wouldn't just toss it all to the wind--would we?"

    Or

    "We wouldn't just toss it all to the wind, would we?"
     
  2. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    either one, depending on how you want the sentence to read...

    the first places greater emphasis on the last part...
     
  3. JayG

    JayG Banned Contributor

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    Don't forget that little darling, the ellipse: "We wouldn't just toss it all to the wind...would we?"
     
  4. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    oops!

    i mistakenly took the " " as just being there to quote a sentence... you're right, jay. in that an ellipsis [an 'ellipse' is something else] would work there, if it's dialog...

    in fact, it's the proper mark to use for a pause in speech, an em dash is not... an ellipsis would not be correct, if it's narrative...
     

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