What is the difference between the wave dash 〜 and long vowel marker ー when marking long vowels?


I know that the wave dash `〜` can be used in place of the long vowel marker
`ー` sometimes, but I'm not exactly sure what the differences are.

  * Is there any difference in pronunciation? I [read once](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14450187/having-trouble-with-japanese-character-in-android#comment20124013_14450306) that it represents a "tremolo", but I'm not sure if that's right.
  * When is it appropriate? According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_punctuation#Wave_dash), it's "usually for comic or cute effect". Is that a fair summary?




I think the difference between the is really captured by their appearance
alone. As you mentioned, ～ sometimes has a sort of wavy 'tremolo' type feel to
it, or at least that's the image evoked by looking at it. I'm not sure how
many times you would _actually_ fluctuate the pitch like that in an actual
reading, though. I usually associate it with a kind of
lightheartedness/plyfulness/nonseriousness. This kind of ties into the second
one you mentioned, with it being "cute." If something is said in a
(supposedly) cute way then you can imagine it being potentially tremolo'd,
maybe more childish or stereotypically feminine. For example, can you see the
difference between 行きたくなーい and 行きたくな～い？ The first one sounds more bored and
disinterested while the second feels a little less めんどくさい. Or at least that's
the feeling I get! Similarly you get the difference between あ～～～ and あー. One
is like "あ～～いや～～～～" and one is like "あー、そっか."

Another example is the vending machines here. For cold drinks the machine says
つめた～い and the hot have あったか～い. It just makes it a little warmer and more
inviting.

Also to get technical about it you wouldn't use ~ in katakana words, so no
ラ～メン or ウ～ロン茶




I think the difference between the is really captured by their appearance
alone. As you mentioned, ～ sometimes has a sort of wavy 'tremolo' type feel to
it, or at least that's the image evoked by looking at it. I'm not sure how
many times you would _actually_ fluctuate the pitch like that in an actual
reading, though. I usually associate it with a kind of
lightheartedness/plyfulness/nonseriousness. This kind of ties into the second
one you mentioned, with it being "cute." If something is said in a
(supposedly) cute way then you can imagine it being potentially tremolo'd,
maybe more childish or stereotypically feminine. For example, can you see the
difference between 行きたくなーい and 行きたくな～い？ The first one sounds more bored and
disinterested while the second feels a little less めんどくさい. Or at least that's
the feeling I get! Similarly you get the difference between あ～～～ and あー. One
is like "あ～～いや～～～～" and one is like "あー、そっか."

Another example is the vending machines here. For cold drinks the machine says
つめた～い and the hot have あったか～い. It just makes it a little warmer and more
inviting.

Also to get technical about it you wouldn't use ~ in katakana words, so no
ラ～メン or ウ～ロン茶

