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I might use an M-dash for the whale example, because it's startling. For the gold watch, that's more of a thoughtful pause, so it would take an ellipsis. Also related on this site: Using dashes i...
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#3: Attribution notice added
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/14525 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
I _might_ use an M-dash for the whale example, because it's startling. For the gold watch, that's more of a thoughtful pause, so it would take an ellipsis. Also related on this site: [Using dashes in writing dialogue](https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/6724/using-dashes-in-writing-dialogue/6744) and [How not to overuse ellipsis?](https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/436/how-not-to-overuse-ellipsis/437)