Dots-n-Dashes

I recently learned an interesting bit of writing habit that I was unaware of!  It made me wonder and after having sat down with other writers it definitely seems to be true, to an extent.

Now, I’ll warn you that this is a really minor writing affectation, but it’s going to date me, so whatev’s!

It appears that Gen-Xers prefer to use the “…” when writing while Millennials prefer to use the “-“.  If you’ve read any of my stuff, well, you know I am a huge lover and user of the “…”.  Not surprisingly, I fall directly into the Gen-X box.  And to back it all up, many of my Millennial writer friends love the “-“.

I don’t know if other Gen-X writers use the three dots for the same reason as I do, but it’s an odd little question to ask. For me, the three dots feel like seconds ticking down or time passing in recognizable blips.  While the dash feels more like a skip or a jump to something else, sort of like the superheroes “Meanwhile”.

I couldn’t find any similar writing markers for boomers or the greatest generation, but I bet they’re out there.  On top of that, I don’t know if Gen-Zers are homogeneously choosing one right now, but maybe?

Does this little writing habit hold true for you?  Do you use something else?  Let me know!

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay