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I went to college for journalism and had to memorize the AP Style Guide cover-to-cover. We got marked down for any violation of its rules in our writing, including the Oxford Comma. Repeated violations were usually mocked publicly.

My lifelong avoidance of it verges on the Pavlovian. I don't think I could start using it if I tried - just the thought makes me shudder.

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I see you placed spaces around your em dash, which is the AP way. Which I'm using to segue to this completely off-topic question, because you actually know these things: I see you did not use a proper em dash (I don't judge). Does the AP Style Manual see that as an em dash, different than an en dash and from a hyphen, or is it just a dash? I don't think the Style Manual ever uses the term em dash and doesn't necessarily differentiate. What would your journalism professor say?

I know, I know - who cares? I do!

Good question, but I honestly have no idea. Relooking at the sentence, I think a semicolon would probably be the most grammatical. There must be an online version of the Guide to search. Or actually, maybe ChatGPT would know.

Thanks. I searched an older edition of the Guide and my (lack of) results are the basis of my question; I think the current online version requires a subscription.

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