Using the Dash to Make Your Point
Dashes are made by hitting the hyphen twice. In most cases, when you type the hyphen twice it will turn into one long dash (—). What do dashes do? Dashes add emphasis. When you separate information in your sentence by using a dash or dashes, you are telling your reader “this is information that really matters.” Because of the impact of dashes and their difference from commas and parentheses, you can see how important it is to use dashes correctly—and only when you want to add emphasis! Excerpt from: Are You Feeling Dash-ing? By Tracy Peterson Turner, PhD
Notice the use of the dash in this excerpt from Dave Barry’s “Kill ‘Em with Kindness”
During the years when the Marlins are not winning the World Series, I believe the only person who actually attends the games is my assistant, Judi Smith, a very loyal fan. I don't think that even the Marlins players attend all the games. I think sometimes it's just the opposing team, and Judi.
That's just how we are down here. We're not like fans in Detroit and Boston and Chicago who remain grimly loyal to a losing team year after year, or (in the case of Cubs’ fans) century after century. If we're not getting the Thrill of Victory from one team, we turn to another team, or the mall.
So right now we LOVE our World Champion Miami Heat. But I believe that many of us, if we are honest with ourselves, know in our heart of hearts that this is not the sacred undying lifelong-commitment love of holy matrimony. This is more the hasty, groping back-seat passion of Prom Night.
And you know what? That's a good thing. Because, to state the obvious: It's a game. The players are paid to shoot the ball or whack the cosita, and they do these things for whoever pays them the most money. And while it's nice when the paid players from your city beat the paid players from another city, it's important not to confuse this with anything truly important in your life, or you run the risk of turning into, well, Mark Cuban.
But the Heat won, which means we have a reason to party. And we South Floridians are very, very good at partying, possibly because we practice so hard every weekend. Sometimes I think that sports teams from other cities should hold their victory parades in Miami, just because of how good we are at celebrating.
So what I'm saying to my fellow South Floridians is: Go ahead and enjoy the moment. You're welcome on the Heat bandwagon, even if you didn't jump aboard until Jason Terry missed that last three-point attempt. Let the sports purists sneer; let them feel superior because they've suffered so much for their team. Good for them! And good for you, for not seeing the need to suffer, as you toast the heroes of the hour, and dance on Biscayne Boulevard.