<![CDATA[Remember when em-dashes were just punctuation?]]>Remember when em-dashes were just punctuation?

Now they’re slop-watermarks.

You can’t read anything online anymore without seeing them lined up like little forensic clues:
“Here’s the thing—”
“Let me explain—”
“The future is—”

The em-dash used to mean:
“Ah, a stylish writer.”

Now it means:
“This paragraph was assembled in 0.8 seconds by a stochastic parrot that thinks every sentence needs the cadence of a TED Talk delivered during a hostage situation.”

We’ve reached the phase of the internet where punctuation itself has become a tell. Like digital fingerprints left at the scene of a content crime.

Soon literary critics are gonna write:
“Early 2020s prose is characterized by emotional support em-dashes, vacant aphorisms, and the overwhelming sensation that the author has a podcast microphone somewhere nearby.”

The em-dash died for AI’s sins.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/9a402ed2-b1f7-4dda-b50d-43f1df75356c/remember-when-em-dashes-were-just-punctuationRSS for NodeThu, 14 May 2026 21:39:30 GMTSun, 10 May 2026 18:53:05 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Remember when em-dashes were just punctuation? on Sun, 10 May 2026 20:05:08 GMT]]>@Larvitz Thinking about it more, I historically have associated em dashes with advertising. I simply don't remember reading them in ordinary written text.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://burningboard.net/users/alison/statuses/116552073741273632https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://burningboard.net/users/alison/statuses/116552073741273632Sun, 10 May 2026 20:05:08 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Remember when em-dashes were just punctuation? on Sun, 10 May 2026 19:59:51 GMT]]>@Larvitz I never learned to write with em-dashes, but rather with semicolons. I've failed a Turing test once, but my semicolons reassure me that I am indeed human.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://burningboard.net/users/alison/statuses/116552053027848172https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://burningboard.net/users/alison/statuses/116552053027848172Sun, 10 May 2026 19:59:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Remember when em-dashes were just punctuation? on Sun, 10 May 2026 19:06:57 GMT]]>@ee I think it's two different things, using AI as a refinement tool to optimize text (with a human in the loop) and using AI to output endless amounts of slop and filler content and throw that into the web ...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://burningboard.net/users/Larvitz/statuses/116551844958233266https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://burningboard.net/users/Larvitz/statuses/116551844958233266Sun, 10 May 2026 19:06:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Remember when em-dashes were just punctuation? on Sun, 10 May 2026 19:05:47 GMT]]>@Larvitz don’t worry I’m not judging you. Though I wouldn’t be judging you either if you wrote imperfect English. Nothing wrong with that.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.nl/ap/users/116404991435260606/statuses/116551840397103801https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.nl/ap/users/116404991435260606/statuses/116551840397103801Sun, 10 May 2026 19:05:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Remember when em-dashes were just punctuation? on Sun, 10 May 2026 19:02:12 GMT]]>@ee Bit ironic, definitely.

I use AI as a writing tool, since it can write English (a foreign language for me) way better than I can. I use it more as a form of "Translator+" and text refinement method.

The small, French "Ministral" Models that fit even in my small Laptops iGPU are perfectly capable for that task. (Offline, power efficient and fast).

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://burningboard.net/users/Larvitz/statuses/116551824672930523https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://burningboard.net/users/Larvitz/statuses/116551824672930523Sun, 10 May 2026 19:02:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Remember when em-dashes were just punctuation? on Sun, 10 May 2026 18:57:59 GMT]]>@Larvitz bit ironic, no? What you posted is true by the way, but I’m convinced I can sense when something is AI-written even if there are no em dashes.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.nl/ap/users/116404991435260606/statuses/116551809755171674https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.nl/ap/users/116404991435260606/statuses/116551809755171674Sun, 10 May 2026 18:57:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Remember when em-dashes were just punctuation? on Sun, 10 May 2026 18:56:42 GMT]]>@ee Partially. I used AI (a local LLM in LM-Studio on my Laptop) to refine the wording/writing.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://burningboard.net/users/Larvitz/statuses/116551804672871025https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://burningboard.net/users/Larvitz/statuses/116551804672871025Sun, 10 May 2026 18:56:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Remember when em-dashes were just punctuation? on Sun, 10 May 2026 18:55:18 GMT]]>@Larvitz did you use AI to write this?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.nl/ap/users/116404991435260606/statuses/116551799195619424https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.nl/ap/users/116404991435260606/statuses/116551799195619424Sun, 10 May 2026 18:55:18 GMT