The slash

Slash for lines of poetry in text

Use the slash to separate two or three lines of poetry that have been run into your text. Add a space both before and after the slash.

More than three lines of poetry should be handled as an indented quotation.

Slash for paired terms

The slash may occasionally be used to separate paired terms such as pass/fail and producer/director. Do not use a space before or after the slash.

Be sparing, however, in this use of the slash. In particular, avoid the use of and/or, he/she, and his/her.

Exercise: Other punctuation marks

Related topic:

Avoiding he/she when fixing sexist language