Index: wp-includes/formatting.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/formatting.php	(revision 4929)
+++ wp-includes/formatting.php	(working copy)
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 		$cockneyreplace = array("’tain’t","’twere","’twas","’tis","’twill","’til","’bout","’nuff","’round","’cause");
 	}
 
-	$static_characters = array_merge(array('---', ' -- ', '--', 'xn–', '...', '``', '\'s', '\'\'', ' (tm)'), $cockney); 
+	$static_characters = array_merge(array('---', ' -- ', '-- ', 'xn–', '...', '``', '\'s', '\'\'', ' (tm)'), $cockney); 
 	$static_replacements = array_merge(array('—', ' — ', '–', 'xn--', '…', '“', '’s', '”', ' ™'), $cockneyreplace);
 
 	$dynamic_characters = array('/\'(\d\d(?:’|\')?s)/', '/(\s|\A|")\'/', '/(\d+)"/', '/(\d+)\'/', '/(\S)\'([^\'\s])/', '/(\s|\A)"(?!\s)/', '/"(\s|\S|\Z)/', '/\'([\s.]|\Z)/', '/(\d+)x(\d+)/');