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lagerlout2006 · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 985

Is there an official rule about the usage of hyphens? I was having an ice-cold beer and giving this the once-over.

Is it all just a matter of taste when to use them or are there actually rules?

Is there a rule-book in a do-or-die situation about when to use the humble hyphen.

Grammar- persons please do tell. Wink

PS : Or should I say grammar-goons or grammar-louts! No this is not a flippant post.

Tamara · Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Posts: 108

Bill Walsh has some advise in Lapsing into a Comma, but it's all from a copy editor's point of view. I don't have the book with me right now, so I can't refer to his advise on hyphens. I'll look it up when I get a chance, if you're interested. Smile

lagerlout2006 · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 985

Yes-color me interested.

joshua2004 · Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 3:51 pm Post subject:

I will give my two cents until someone can better explain it. You use a hypen when its two or more words that belong like they should be said together. Examples: hour-long birthday candle. Without the hypen, that could read as an hour birthday candle that is long.

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

Here's a web site that has a rather comprehensive set of hyphen rules:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyphen_%28punctuation%29 .

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

The rules there are fairly comprehensinve, and the Economist link on that page gives more examples.

One thing to remember iis that the use of the hyphen is not static. Ther is a tendency for a term to develop from two separate words, to a hyphenated ttransient form, and then to one word. Waslh may rail against email instead of e-mail but I reckon he's fighting a losing battle.

Joe Gahona · Joined: 24 Apr 2004 Posts: 27 Location: New York City

Hyphenating adjectives is pretty easy to figure out, but it gets a little trickier when the adjective comes after what it's describing. If a static verb is used, I think it's generally better to hyphenate. ("He is ill-informed" not "He is ill informed.")

And even the most constipated copy editor will allow for some exceptions, such as "high school student" and "ice cream cone."

Tamara · Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Posts: 108

Good! I'm glad you're familiar with Walsh's expositions. I looked in the appendix and the list is daunting to try to replicate.

But, here goes, just for the fun of writing it down. If you ink it, you think it! From Lapsing into a Comma, Bill Walsh: