Useful Characters

Empty character. An invisible character that is useful when text is required but you don't want to enter anything.

Em dash. The longest type of common hyphen-like character. Used to denote sudden changes in sentence structure. They are also used (instead of commas) to set off an explanation or emphasis. Joan—despite her brother's warning—entered the dark building.

En dash. The en dash (–) is slightly wider than the hyphen (-) but narrower than the em dash (—). Used to represent a span or range of numbers, dates, or time. There should be no space between the en dash and the adjacent material. Depending on the context, the en dash is read as “to” or “through.”

The shrug emoticon. Also known as the shruggie, used to indicate happy indifference.

The awkward emoticon.

The bear hug emoticon.

The bear flips table emoticon. Bear is displeased.

The dance emoticon. 💃

The fight emoticon. PUT em up

The bribe emoticon.

The Lenny face emoticon. Used to suggest a mischievous mood, imply sexual innuendo, or spam online discussions.