Who first used the em dash

Who First Used the Em Dash? A Short History of a Long Mark

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Table of Contents

Introduction

The em dash ( — ) is one of those punctuation marks that writers either love, hate, or abuse. Depending on your editorial style guide, it might be hailed as a tool for stylistic flair or condemned as a lazy alternative to proper punctuation. But few people ever stop to ask: Where did this symbol actually come from? Who first used it? And why did it catch on?

This article uncovers the origins of the em dash, tracing its path from the printing presses of 18th-century England to the screens of 21st-century writers.

What Is an Em Dash?

Before we dive into history, a quick refresher: an em dash is a long horizontal punctuation mark that roughly equals the width of a capital “M” in a given typeface. It’s longer than a hyphen (-) or an en dash (–), and it’s used to indicate breaks in thought, insertions, or abrupt shifts in tone.

Examples:

  • She was going to tell him—but she stopped.
  • Three things matter in life—courage, kindness, and persistence.

Early Typographic Roots

The use of dashes in English writing can be traced back to the 17th century, but the em dash as we know it emerged more formally in the 18th century, thanks to advancements in printing and typesetting. The name “em dash” comes from the traditional width of the dash being equal to the letter “M” in a given font.

Back in the days of movable type, each piece of metal type represented a single character. Printers needed a long dash for stylistic and practical purposes, and so the em dash was born out of typographic necessity, not grammatical theory.

Laurence Sterne: The Em Dash’s Literary Godfather

One of the earliest and most prolific users of the long dash in literature was Laurence Sterne, whose 1759 novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, featured a liberal and highly creative use of dashes. Sterne used them to mimic human thought, hesitation, and interruption, giving the text a conversational tone that was well ahead of its time.

His usage wasn’t always technically the modern em dash, but it paved the way for its literary legitimacy. In Sterne’s hands, the dash became more than a typographic ornament. It also became part of the narrative voice.

Emily Dickinson: The Queen of Dashes

Fast-forward to the 19th century, and you’ll find Emily Dickinson, the American poet who famously peppered her work with dashes of varying lengths. Scholars still debate whether she intended to use em dashes specifically or was simply employing a dash-like flourish in her handwritten manuscripts.

When her poems were first published posthumously, editors “normalized” her punctuation, replacing many of her dashes with commas and periods. However, later editions attempted to restore her original usage, which helped draw attention back to the em dash as a powerful literary device.

The Literary Elite Who Made the Dash Iconic

While Sterne and Dickinson may have pioneered its expressive potential, a cadre of classic authors across the 19th and early 20th centuries helped solidify the em dash’s place in serious literature.

William Faulkner, known for his sprawling, complex sentences, used the em dash to guide readers through the winding corridors of his stream-of-consciousness narration. It allowed him to interrupt or clarify thoughts without breaking the momentum.

Herman Melville used em dashes extensively in Moby-Dick, not just as dramatic punctuation, but as a rhythmic device that mirrored the contemplative, erratic voice of Ishmael. The dashes offered room for thought, for sudden turns, for philosophical asides.

Jane Austen relied on the em dash more subtly in works like Pride and Prejudice, using it to reflect speech patterns and social interruptions. Her characters often paused mid-thought, redirected their words, or hesitated, and the em dash captured these nuances in print.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, with his essayistic flair, used the em dash to punctuate philosophical musings. It gave him the room to stretch his sentences into meditative riffs without the rigid boundaries of commas or semicolons.

Virginia Woolf took it further still. In her fluid, impressionistic prose, the em dash served as a boundary and a bridge. It is also a way to float between consciousnesses, time periods, and narrative fragments without the fuss of formal structure.

Each of these authors used the em dash not as a gimmick but as a deliberate tool to shape voice, pacing, and emotion. They helped transform it from a typographic relic into a modern staple of literary style.

Standardization and Style Guides

By the early 20th century, the em dash had become a formal part of the typographic lexicon. Style guides like The Chicago Manual of Style and The Associated Press Stylebook started weighing in on its usage.

  • Chicago style tends to favor the em dash with no spaces on either side.
  • AP style, on the other hand, prefers using a space on both sides and sometimes opts for a simpler dash or avoids it altogether.

Despite these rules, the em dash remains one of the most flexible punctuation marks. It can stand in for commas, colons, or parentheses, and it’s often used for dramatic effect.

Why Did It Stick?

A few reasons:

  • Visual clarity: It breaks up a sentence more clearly than a comma or parentheses.
  • Voice and tone: It mimics spoken language better than rigid punctuation.
  • Typographic elegance: It simply looks good when used well.

Writers like Virginia Woolf and James Joyce, as well as later modern novelists and journalists, found the em dash useful for expressing interruptions, emotional shifts, and dynamic pacing.

Conclusion

So, who first used the em dash? While it’s hard to pin down a single originator, Laurence Sterne was its first great literary champion, and Emily Dickinson helped cement its place in poetic tradition. The mark itself emerged from typographic innovations in 18th-century printing houses, driven by practical needs, and evolved into a powerful stylistic tool.

And as writers like Faulkner, Melville, Austen, Emerson, and Woolf have shown, the em dash is more than just punctuation. It’s a scalpel for thought, a pause for breath, and a voice in print.

Today, the em dash remains a staple in fiction, essays, online journalism, and even casual texts and emails. Love it or loathe it, it’s here to stay.

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