Two-Em Dash

It marks text left out, unreadable, or deliberately withheld.

In editorial English, the omission dash can stand for missing letters, an unreadable stretch, or a deliberately withheld name. A typographic em is a unit tied to the type size; two ems make this dash about twice as wide as an em dash. Set apart by spaces, it can replace a whole word or name; attached to letters, it masks only part of a word. At the end of quoted speech, two-em dashes can mark an abrupt interruption.

Chicago's 1906 style manual documents the two-em convention. A 2010 Unicode proposal for ⸺ and ⸻ describes both as omission marks and records their use in metal printing type.

Is ⸺ the same as two em dashes?

No. ⸺ is one character; —— is two em dashes.

Two em dashes can approximate its width, but may leave a gap because each keeps its own side bearings. In Chinese typography, the wide dash marks a change of thought, inserted material, or a sustained sound; two em dashes have often represented it, while ⸺ is the single-character form.

How do I type the two-em dash?

Use Unicode input for 2E3A when you need this single character.

In an editor with hexadecimal Unicode input, enter 2E3A and use that editor's conversion shortcut; the command varies by editor. For markup, use ⸺. Two em dashes, ——, are a fallback, but their separate spacing may show a gap.