- Real Emdash -

Here's how we can all use the em dash again!

Prove* you're human by using the real em dash, two dashes --.

One long dash equals AI. Two hyphens equals Human.

"I will use -- instead of —"

-- humans have pledged

This site exists because I love the em dash. Before AI came along, some would say I over-used it. My pre-AI-writing book Outsmart the Learning Curve contains 223 em dashes -- it only has 181 pages!

Then the ChatGPT em dash came along and ruined the em dash for everyone. Now I painfully self-censor my natural use of the em dash and replace it with periods, commas, semi-colons -- whatever I can get my hands on -- for fear people will think I generated the text with AI.

What if there were a way to prove* that your use of em dash is human somehow? Then we could go back to the way it was -- when we could use the em dash as wildly and widely as back in the old days.

That day starts today!

Now instead of using the AI-suspicious —, just use the new real em dash -- two dashes to prove you're human.

Of course, those damn operating systems and writing tools auto replace -- with —. But you can turn that off.

Here's how to turn off —

Mac
  1. Open System Settings.
  2. Go to Keyboard.
  3. Click Edit next to Text Input.
  4. Turn off Use smart quotes and dashes. Why Apple puts these two together is a mystery. Just know -- it's brave to turn off smart quotes too. You can do it!
iOS
  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap General.
  3. Tap Keyboard.
  4. Turn off Smart Punctuation. This turns off Smartquotes too -- turning " into “. But it's worth the sacrifice!
Windows
  1. Open Microsoft Word.
  2. Go to File > Options.
  3. Click Proofing.
  4. Click AutoCorrect Options.
  5. Open AutoFormat As You Type.
  6. Uncheck Hyphens (--) with dash (—). In Word, that setting controls the conversion.
Android
  1. Open your keyboard app's settings, not just Android system settings.
  2. If you use Gboard, look for Text correction.
  3. Turn off Auto punctuation or any smart punctuation option if present.
  4. If your keyboard has a separate Smart punctuation or suggest punctuation setting, turn that off too. Android behavior varies by keyboard, so the exact label depends on Gboard, Samsung Keyboard, or another keyboard app.
Microsoft Word (Mac and Windows)
  1. Open Word, then go to File → Options → Proofing.
  2. Click AutoCorrect Options…, then go to the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
  3. Find and uncheck the option “Hyphens (--) with dash (—)”, then click OK twice to save.
Google Docs (web)
  1. Open your document and go to Tools in the top menu.
  2. Click Preferences….
  3. In the list, uncheck any automatic replacement you have that turns -- into — (for example, a custom substitution in the Substitutions tab), then click OK. Google Docs does not have a separate “smart dashes” toggle, so you prevent this by removing or editing the specific substitution that maps -- to —.
Apple Pages (Mac)
  1. In Pages, open any document.
  2. From the top menu, choose Pages → Settings… (or Preferences… in some versions), then go to the Auto-Correction / Auto-Format area.
  3. Turn off Smart Dashes (or the equivalent “change double hyphens to dash” option). This stops Pages from changing -- into a longer dash as you type.

If you have corrections or other tips, send them to human@realemdash.org.

*"Prove" is a bit of a strong word here. If this movement is successful, LinkedIn pundits everywhere will coach followers to add the conversion from — back to -- in their system prompts.

I say if that happens, we win!!