Transcript Hyphen Usage

The Hyphen
(From Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne
Truss, 2003)
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“There are a great many hyphens left in America. For
my part, I think the most un-American thing in the
world is a hyphen.”
Woodrow Wilson, 1919
1856-1924
Former US President, 1912-1920.
Re-elected in 1916.)
Uses of the Hyphen

1. To avoid ambiguity.
A re-formed musical group.
 A reformed musical group.
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A long-standing friend.
 A long standing friend.
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Large schedule establishment overheads
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Large-schedule establishment overheads?
Or large schedule-establishment overheads?
Locally constant, linear and quadratic approximations
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Is this a list of three approximations? Locally constant,
linear, and quadratic?
Or locally-constant linear and locally-constant quadratic
approximations?
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2. Spelling out numbers.
Twenty-three.
 Forty-two.
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3. Linking nouns to other nouns.
The London-Brighton train.
 American-French relations.
 Tarzan the ape-man.
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4. A noun phrase modifying another noun.
Stainless steel – not hyphenated, just an adjective
modifying a noun.
 Stainless-steel kitchen – “stainless steel” works as a
noun phrase, and the hyphen prevents reading it as a
stainless kitchen made out of steel.
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5. Certain (but not all) prefixes.
Un-American
 Anti-Communist
 Quasi-grammatical
 But not:

Prejudice
 Subordinate
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6. Spelling out words

Muammar Qaddafi’s name has been spelled:
G-h-a-d-d-a-f-i
 K-a-d-d-a-f-i
 G-a-d-h-a-f-i
 K-h-a-d-a-f-y
 (and over 30 other variants)
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7. To avoid “letter collision” in compound
words:
Shell-like, not Shelllike
 Re-elect, not reelect.
 De-ice, not deice.
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8. To indicate an unfinished word on a line.

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“I was walking through the woods and suddenly discovered…”
9. To indicate hesitation and stammering.

“M-m-my n-name is B-B-Billy B-B-Bibbet.” –One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
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10. To qualify a forthcoming hyphenated phrase.
He was a two- or three-year-old.
 Whether you’re pro- or anti-religion…
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When does a word stop being
hyphenated?
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Through repeated use, typically.
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Previous hyphenated words:
To-morrow
 Sub-marine
 Good-bye
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What’s the difference?
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Little-used car.
Little used car.
Pickled-herring merchant.
Pickled herring merchant.