Hyphen is used to join words together (as in "a partially-sighted person", to use an example from a document on my desk).

Dash (or en-dash) is used primarily to specify ranges (e.g. "3-5 people").

Em-dash (usually written "--" when you're typing, but you can get an em-dash character from Word by pressing Ctrl+alt+dash if you're preparing something for direct printing) is used as punctuation within a sentence, to indicate a longer and more serious break than a comma would imply, or a sudden stop (e.g. "I don't know why -- I just did").

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First of all, writers, it is not proper to put spaces between the periods in an ellipsis; it should look like ..., not . . ..

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Then in the next message:

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Chicago says to use three-to-em spaces between the dots

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usually written "--" when you're typing

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regarding those three little dots. I can't believe how much trouble they're suddenly giving me.

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Hi, guys! I heard there was a conversation about Courier New over here! It's so totally not a proportional font! What do you think??

[pause]

Kidding. Slow Friday, and I'm really, really bored.

Kolona - my husband thanks you for the buss, but I must remind you that this whole thread is your fault - or Courier New's fault - or the fault of the dash/hyphen/whatever (and I have a hyphenated last name, so I think kindly of the little line myself)!!!

Cameron - thanks for the giggle - had a long day and I really needed that... (look, see me posting with lines and dots and doing it wrong and NOT CARING ANYMORE!)

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For manuscripts, inserting an ellipsis character is a workable method, but it is not the preferred method. It is easy enough for a publisher to search for this unique character and replace it with the recommended three periods plus two nonbreaking spaces (. . .). But in addition to this extra step, there is also the potential for character-mapping problems (the ellipsis could appear as some other character) across software platforms—an added inconvenience. Moreover, the numeric entity for an ellipsis is not formally defined for standard HTML (and may not work with older browsers). So type three spaced dots, like this . . . or, at the end of a grammatical sentence, like this. . . . If you can, add two nonbreaking spaces to keep the three dots—or the last three of four—from breaking across a line.

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(I was going to reduce this entry from the address JB provided, http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/cmosfaq.html
but I would have had to insert several ellipses, and given the subject matter, I thought that would be too confusing. )

So. The scrunched-up ellipsis character of Courier New is okay but not preferred, but three dots separated by two spaces is preferred (Or is that ‘are’ preferred? Anyway…). However, since different software can cause glitches in any transfer process between them, it’s advised to type dot/space/dot/space/dot or dot/space/dot/space/dot/space/dot, depending on whether or not you’re ending a sentence. And, try to make sure the whole series can’t be broken at the end of a line.

This, of course, doesn’t take into account that in Courier New those three dots and two spaces seem to take up a lot of room, but I guess that’s okay.

I think I want this to be a rhetorical question because I’m really afraid to go here, but “the three dots—or the last three of four” seems to imply that the last three dots comprise the ellipsis, whereas I thought the first three dots comprise the ellipsis and the last dot is actually the period, just as it would be the question mark if applicable. After all, an interrogatory sentence ending with an ellipsis would end like this ‘. . . ?’ not this ‘? . . .’ (I’m adding this parenthetical statement to keep from having to add the period to that sentence right after those examples ). I’ll go out on a limb and speculate that trying to keep the spaces unbroken means playing loose with which dots are which, and I’d have to go back into this thread to see how to do that, keep the spaces unbroken, that is. I think somebody explained how earlier. If they didn’t, I wish they’d do so now.

The only other thing I need to correct is that I found the rubber chicken in a store. (It was milk I found in the parking lot.) The poor bird’s neck was rubbed raw and cracked, and its head quite beat up, but something about that plucked chicken compelled me to give it a home. Unlike the milk.

So, to do an ellipsis, you type the last word, then a dot right after it without a space, then space/dot/space/dot, and if it is at the end of a sentence, you add another space/dot or instead of the dot you add a question mark or whatever. . . . So what I just typed after "whatever" would be correct for ending a sentence?

For broken off speech you would do something like the following: "Hey, what the. . . ," he yelled. The comma is ok like that?

However, you are aware that two spaces make up the proper distance between sentences? So "or whatever. . . . So what" would be "or whatever. . . . So what."* ** Having seen on the F&F thread an example of your writing (which was refreshingly pristine, I might add), I suppose you actually know this.

*(Hmmm...apparently this site reduces all double spaces to one. Shame on it.)

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For broken off speech you would do something like the following: "Hey, what the. . . ," he yelled. The comma is ok like that?

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Structurally, yes. Contextually...oh dear. How can anyone yell with a comma? I would think yelling demands an exclamation mark. However, and this might just be personal preference, I'm not partial to a trail off followed by a dialogue tag.
A)
<"Hey, what the...!" he yelled.>
<"Hey, what the...!">
and
B)
<"But he didn't...," he said, losing his thought.">
<"But he didn't," he said, losing his thought.>
<"But he didn't...." He lost his thought.>
In group A, the second seems sufficient without the stated yelling; in group B, I'd go with the third, or the second, which implies a trail-off. The 'he said' in the first seems to negate the trail-off.

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I just did a find/replace on a story doing that. In Courier New. . . .

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You brave girl.

**This is a particular gripe of mine about published books, that between sentence spacing is only one space. I find reading marginally confusing at times, as if I'm not pausing properly between thoughts. It seems unfair that even though submitted manuscripts are expected to keep to the proper two spaces for the ease of editors, readers are put upon with the single space distance.

Oops! Yes, if I used "yelled" I would have used an exclamation point! Just not thinking (it's the thinking that gets me every time).

And yes, my husband says the html does change the double space into a single space.

And an "oh dear" - I was taught the two space rule between sentences, but just recently was taught no, for submissions, use only ONE space. I've had the hardest time retraining myself to do only one space, and now I'm being told I should not have changed what I was doing? AUGH! My story is all single-spaced

I don't suppose anyone can give more info on THAT bit of knowledge?

Hmmm...'hou.' I guess you mean the noun form of the word, which would go along with those sporting events. (This discussion belongs with 'deckle' in the word thread. )

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AUGH! My story is all single-spaced

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Again, I feel your pain. I can only say I know I recently read very clearly in some manuscript format instructions, that even though the published product will come out in single-space-separated sentences, you should be sure to double those spaces in your manuscript, as is customary. I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you.

Flavanoid quercetin? (Flavonoid quercetin?) Is that anything like a Crapsey Cinquain?

(Pretend this is an HTML quote notation)
If I'm right, I'm feeling better. I just did a find/replace on a story doing that. In Courier New. . . .
(And this is an HTML endquote notation)

I had to do that to exactly reproduce the layout of your words. You have a lone dot all by itself on one line, a prime example of the need for unbreakable spaces for ellipses and their sometimes punctuation.

Yes, "flavonoid" and I'll just apologize now that the draft I sent you, Survivor, and Cameron has it spelled incorrectly. I don't think you want me jamming your inboxes with another 63k just to fix one letter - but it is fixed in MY copy - thanks! I'll have to fix all the spacing tomorrow, as I am turning into a pumpkin.

I understand what you mean - the unbreakable space keeps the dots together instead of having some of them move onto the next line, yes? That makes sense. I will have to use a fine eye to check my work, style book by my side.

As for Crapsey Cinquain - now you are just scaring me (but in a good way). My grandmother's name was also Adelaide - Adelaide Wallace (yes, of the clan - my parents insisted I see Braveheart!). And I just found a poem I wrote in that style a few years back, without ever having studied that style (cheated, looked it up because you intrigued me). I don't believe in channeling, but I have shivers up my spine.

Remembered Hawaii? Ask anyone who knows me if I’ve forgotten. My three-year-old granddaughter pretends she’s going to Hawaii with her friend. (No influence there, right? )

Still gotta find out how to keep spaces unbreakable.
(Oh, this is too funny. My computer just made a funny noise and suddenly the above sentence stretched out vertically. Of all sentences. )

Okay, Lee, I’ll give you Sri Lanka and the clan, but writing a Crapsey Cinquain by accident? Even Punahou School couldn’t have been that good. On the other hand, it is Hawaiian.

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but to get us (me) thinking about things that are important

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Like Hawaii.

Okay. I'll stop.

To save future difficulties though, I've decided instead to never write anything that needs ellipses ever again.

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In text, use only a single word space after all sentence punctuation

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I'm not sure whether "sentence punctuation" includes punctuation at the end of the sentence, or if it is intended to mean punctuation within the sentence. If the space after a sentence is supposed to be different, it doesn't mention it.

Note, I often type two spaces after a full stop. I think this is actually a business document writing practice that probably shouldn't be followed for book writing, but it is a hard habit to break once you've acquired it.

Kolona: HTML makes it very difficult to have a double width space, because it runs multiple spaces together unless you specifically tell it not to. You have to use non-breaking spaces (" " -- in case that gets changed into a space, that's an ampersand followed by "nbsp;") if you want more than one.

In a correction to a statement I made above, third-of-em spaces are apparently not the normal space size; the "optimum" space size is apparently a quarter of an em, except in fonts of size 8pt or lower, where it is a third of an em. So now you know...

http://www.shunn.net/writing/coach/format.html

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Always place two spaces after any sentence-ending punctuation. "Always?" you ask. Always! Some people will tell you that two spaces aren't required these days, especially if you're submitting a manuscript to be typeset directly from a computer disk. Don't listen to these people. Unless you are Harlan Ellison, your editor is actually going to read your manuscript before sending it on to the typesetter, and her eye is accustomed to seeing two spaces at the end of every sentence. Anything else will annoy her, which should bring to mind the cardinal rule of manuscript formatting, as mentioned above.
In addition, put two spaces after every colon: like so. This convention helps the typesetter distinguish more easily between colons and semicolons.

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However, with the Oxford quote you offered,

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In text, use only a single word space after all sentence punctuation

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I was stumped. I have to admit, this is the first time I’ve ever seen that. ‘All’ certainly should mean ‘all,’ including end punctuation. To me, this is a serious word-count spoiler, though, considering how many spaces would be involved in a novel-length manuscript. So I did some further checking. An informative source is

http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/t3/wsr/csc120/wp1spa97.htm

According to this Georgetown College site (whether they are any kind of final arbiters, I don’t know), the double space was used when typewriters produced only monospaced fonts because the double space between sentences helped with ease of reading. Once computers introduced proportional fonts, single spaces were sufficient(although I disagree), which is why published material is single-spaced between sentences. This site quotes MLA guidelines as

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“… leave one space after words, commas, semicolons and between dots in ellipsis marks. MLA allows either one or two spaces after periods, question marks, and exclamation points.”

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and APA guidelines as

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“… APA guidelines call for one space after all punctuation …”

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(My emphasis in both those quotes.)

(Whoa! Why is the American Psychological Association a writing-style guide? I thought APA had something to do with the Associated Press and journalistic writing. What a revelation. )

Anyway, the Georgetown site goes on to set apart Courier and Monaco as monospaced fonts, which, by deduction then, would demand two spaces – even on a computer.

According to

http://www.adobe.com/print/tips/felici20001030/main.html

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So ultimately it’s an issue of aesthetics and readability. The best solution on the typewriter calls for two spaces between sentences, but on typesetting systems, the best solution is just one space.

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Unless, we might add, you’re submitting a manuscript for publication in a monospaced font, in which case two spaces between sentences would be advised for editors’ ease of readability, comfortably knowing that any typesetting transfers by a publisher would automatically eliminate the extra spaces anyway.

So,
1.) if Times New Roman is as acceptable a manuscript submission format as is Courier;
2.) if it is too confusing and difficult for writers to constantly switch from single space to double according to the font used (which it would be);
3.) if writers will often type drafts in one font (TNR perhaps) for their own readability while working, and submit in another, probably monospaced font (like Courier), and would have to go back through each manuscript to insert the extra spaces between sentences for readability when they changed fonts;
4.) if the difference between single and double spaces affects word count;
5.) if some of the best sources do not agree on the issue;
6.) if HTML and typesetting maneuvers will change double spaces to single automatically;
then in the interests of common sense and standardization, writers should insert two spaces between sentences. This is, of course, my informed conclusion. You guys (all inclusive ) do what you want.

So that’s what all those weird notations are in e-mails – stillborn double spaces.

I’m not going to touch that em-size stuff, Jules. I’ll take your word for it.

No in a finished book there is only one space, but in a MS--fiction or non-fiction, (newspaper stories etc., may be different)--you use two spaces at the end of a sentence. It goes back to standard ms formatting, you can find sources that will back up anything--but when submitting a ms you should go with industry standard.

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According to this Georgetown College site (whether they are any kind of final arbiters, I don’t know), the double space was used when typewriters produced only monospaced fonts because the double space between sentences helped with ease of reading. Once computers introduced proportional fonts, single spaces were sufficient(although I disagree), which is why published material is single-spaced between sentences.

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Everything I've read says that you don't doublespace anymore, EXCEPT for manuscripts.

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Punctuation and Spaces.
The traditional rule, and one especially suited to the monospaced fonts common in typescripts (as opposed to desktop publishing): put one space after a comma or semicolon; put two spaces after a (sentence-ending) period, exclamation point, or question mark. Colons have been known to go either way. For spaces after quotation marks, base your choice on the punctuation inside the quotation. Publishers often (but not always) use standard word spacing between sentences (it's a matter of house style), and it seems to be gaining ground among typists today, perhaps through the influence of desktop publishing. In any case, it's nothing to fret about.
I get a ridiculous amount of mail about this one point — at least one (often heated) message a week, more than on all the other topics in this guide put together. I wish I understood this strange passion. My only advice to those who want to quarrel about it is that your time would be better spent worrying about other things.

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It's a lot like that discussion--it looks better so I use Times--etc., mono spaced font is easier to read and edit, the two spaces is the same, easier to read and edit. Your finished ms may have 700 pages, but the printed book will not. Your goal is to make the ms as easy to read as can be--editors and agents appreciate ease of reading, and better to go with what has been a long standing tradition than to PO someone.

And besides it might just give the impression that you have been writing for a long time--and that can't hurt.

Again, the goal here is to format a ms not
make it look like a finished book.

we are talking about a MANUSCRIPT not printed material where someone who spends hrs reading everyday--all day.

Mono spaced fonts are also used to determine other things in the production of a book.

sigh

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Mono spaced fonts are also used to determine other things in the production of a book.

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1. Because the guidelines say so. If you give editors what they want, they are happier. Happy editors buy manuscripts.
2. A mono-spaced font is easier to edit. The spacing between the letters of a monospaced font is wide enough to let them insert those weird editing marks.
3. A mono-spaced font is often easier to read under difficult conditions, such as while the editor is on the subway, eating lunch, carpooling, at the opera, watching TV, and all the other places editors read submissions.
4. Your manuscript might be photocopied by the publisher and sent to various departments, or faxed to someone. Letters blur, and letter spacing shrinks, during faxing and photocopying. The widely spaced letters and strong, straight lines of Courier survive faxing and photocopying better than proportional fonts with serifs (those "tails" on the letters).
5. Printers estimate the page count of a finished book according to a sacred and ancient magical spell: they take the number of pages in the submitted manuscript, stir in the font and size the publisher wants to use, chant the planned page size and margins three times while turning widdershins ... and violá! They have the page count of the finished book! If you send a manuscript with the font and margins the wizard has used in this spell since his apprenticeship, any wizard worth his keep can predict the finished size of the book within seconds.
The results of the spell are only predictable if all the ingredients are familiar to the wizard. If you send in a manuscript with a font or margins the wizard isn't familiar with, the spell doesn't work unless the wizard makes some tedious adjustments to the other ingredients. This annoys wizards.

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It seems to me, though, that the major question is which is more distracting to the editor. I've read lots of stuff that says single spacing after a period is hard to read, and it's annoying, etc, but I haven't heard that at all about the double space.

Is there evidence that editors get frustrated with that infernal extra space, and not buy my manuscript?

If not, I think the conservative approach would be to double space. When in doubt, double space.

If you have a particular reason to be writing MLA, Chicago, or one of the other styles, follow their rules, otherwise, the double space seems a safe bet.