Long Hyphen

Pat & Helen Macguire

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Jan 21, 2002, 9:21:11 AM1/21/02

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What's the quickest way to get this (Word 2000) instead of - ? I think what
I want is actually a dash.

Regards and thanks in advance

Pat Macguire

D B Dukes

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Jan 21, 2002, 9:37:40 AM1/21/02

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Try Tools | AutoCorrect

Slect the AutoFormat tab. Under replace, check 'symbol characters with
symbols'

Test it by typing text, using a double-hyphen where you want the dash. It
won't convert immediately. For me, it happens after I finish the word after
the double-hyphen.

For example, typing this sentence:
This test works -- I hope.
the double-hyphen changes to long-dash after I type the space after the word
'I'

Now, the bad news:
It doesn't convert automatically on cut-and-paste. At least, not for me.

--
D B Dukes

"Pat & Helen Macguire" <h.mac...@virgin.net> wrote in message
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jjwhitejr

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Jan 21, 2002, 9:51:20 AM1/21/02

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You can try holding down ALT and type 0150 on the numeric
keypad. — — —

Mark Tangard

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Jan 21, 2002, 10:48:56 AM1/21/02

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If you click Insert-> Symbol-> Special Characters, you'll see the
preassigned shortcut keys for both the En Dash (the semi-long kind,
used for, e.g., separating numbers, or separating two-word portions
of a compound, as in "San Francisco-Oakland") and the Em Dash (the
long kind, used to indicate a pause.

-- Mark Tangard <mtan...@speakeasy.net>, Microsoft Word MVP ------------
-- See the MVP FAQ at http://www.mvps.org/word --------------------------
----------------- "Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup. Note: MVPs do not work for Microsoft.

Larry

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Jan 21, 2002, 11:07:36 AM1/21/02

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The simplest way to type an M Dash or Em dash is to press the keystroke
combo that Word has assigned to the M dash, Ctrl+Alt+ Num Hyphen (that's
the hyphen key in the numeric keypad way over on the right side of your
keyboard). To do this, the num lock light must be on.

If you want a more convenient key to type the M dash, you could assign
one of your own. Open the Customize Keyboard dialog box (Tools,
Customize, Keyboard). In the left pane, scroll down to Common Symbols.
In the right pane, the first item on the list will be Em dash. Now in
the Press New Shortcut key box try some additional combo you'd like to
assign. Pick something easy that you can do with one hand and that
might also remind you of a double hyphen, for example, Alt+=. If the
key combo you've input is not assigned already to something else (or
even if it is and you don't need to preserve the current assignment),
click Assign and click Close. Now that new key combo will also input
the M dash.

Larry

Suzanne S. Barnhill

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Jan 21, 2002, 11:00:59 AM1/21/02

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All the answers you have been given will work. For more on inserting special
characters using all these techniques (and more), see
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/InsertSpecChars.htm.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft Word MVP
Words into Type
Fairhope, AL USA

"Pat & Helen Macguire" <h.mac...@virgin.net> wrote in message
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Jay Freedman

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Jan 21, 2002, 11:12:49 AM1/21/02

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Hi, Pat,

Both of the other posters are correct: There's an AutoCorrect entry you can
turn on, and you can use the Alt+0150 number-pad approach. There's one more:
the shortcut key for an "em dash" is Ctrl+Alt+the minus sign on the number
pad.

If this doesn't work, you can look at the shortcut: Open the Tools/Customize
dialog and click the Keyboard button. Select the category "Common Symbols"
(all the way at the bottom of the list" and select "Em Dash" on the right.
It will show the current shortcut, if any, and let you define a new one if
you want.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word

"Pat & Helen Macguire" <h.mac...@virgin.net> wrote in message
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Pat & Helen Macguire

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Jan 21, 2002, 1:54:20 PM1/21/02

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Pat & Helen Macguire <h.mac...@virgin.net> wrote in message
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Thanks everybody. Plenty to be going on with there!

Regards

Pat Macguire

Thomas Ferguson

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Jan 21, 2002, 8:23:02 PM1/21/02

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I think Word actually does it correctly. If you type this--that, word
will change the -- to an em dash but If you type this -- that or
this - that, word will change -- or - to an en dash. The change is
made after you type that.

Sometimes I just want an em dash. So I set -/ to be auto-corrected to
the em dash.
--

Tom
MSMVP PS-D

"Pat & Helen Macguire" <h.mac...@virgin.net> wrote in message
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: What's the quickest way to get this (Word 2000) instead of - ? I

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