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UNI-004 · Dashes

SHY

Invisible until the line runs out; then it surfaces as a hyphen, in the right place.

The soft hyphen marks where a word may be divided, showing nothing for as long as the division isn't needed. When the line runs out, the browser breaks there — and only there — with a hyphen.

It is the answer for long words in narrow columns: antidisestablishmentarianism, electroencephalogram. Seeded with ­, the word splits gracefully at any width instead of bursting the box.

Bare:        electroencephalogram             (bursts the narrow column)
With ­:  electro­encephalo­gram   (breaks where the author allowed)
The gem that only shines when the line ends.