RE: [External] : Re: character sets as they relate to “Raw” string literals for elisp

[Drew Adams]

> > “full-featured” and other hyphenated words are not
> > normally spelt with an en dash.

+1.

> > From Wikipedia:
> >
> >     In English, an en dash, –, sometimes replaces the hyphen
> >     in hyphenated compounds if either of its constituent parts
> >     is already hyphenated or contains a space (for example,
> >     San Francisco–area residents, hormone receptor–positive cells,
> >     cell cycle–related factors, and public-school–private-school
> >     rivalries).
> 
> Such ugly writing style where an en dash is not separated from the
> nearby words by whitespace makes the Info manual less readable.
> For example, in (info "(emacs) After a Crash"):
> 
>   ...to retrieve them from a core dump–provided that a...
> 
> This leaves one to wonder what does this word mean:
> "dump-provided"?

Good example.

Use of an en dash that way is inappropriate (irregular,
not conventional).  An em dash _would_ be appropriate
there, but not an en dash.

https://www.scribbr.com/language-rules/dashes/

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/em-dash-en-dash-how-to-use

> But the dash surrounded by whitespace on both sides makes the text
> much more readable

Agreed.

Generally, an em dash is surrounded by either a thin
space or no space at all.  But yes, depending on the
font etc., it can look weird to not have any space.
In particular, with monospaced fonts a space char
helps (IMO).