Fun With Hyphens

Hyphens are tricky even for some experienced writers and proofreaders. I’ve learned that some people find them distracting, although the purpose of a hyphen is to eliminate confusion, and I attribute this distraction to preoccupation with the proper usage of hyphens.

Here’s the short rule about hyphens, straight from Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style: “When two or more words are combined to form a compound adjective, a hyphen is usually required.” Here’s the exception: Adverbs ending in -ly are never hyphenated.

Punctuation exists to make our writing clearer and to avoid confusion. Hyphens contribute to both, and they are indeed necessary in compound adjectives.

For example, if you write “a small engine mechanic,” you have just said that he’s an engine mechanic who is small (in stature). If, however, you write “a small-engine mechanic,” then you have indicated a mechanic who works on small engines. If the latter is true, then you need the hyphen. Here are other examples:
• Real-time computing
• Three-bedroom house
• Nine-page document
• Two-day vacation
• Money-back guarantee
• Omaha-based company
• Second-rate actor
• Once-in-a-lifetime experience

Back to the exception. Never use a hyphen adjoining adverbs ending in -ly to another word:
• Naturally occurring event
• Overly processed food
• Gently ebbing waves
• Richly scented perfume
• Heavily weighted bookcase
• Generally stated observation

It should be noted that over-hyphenating is considered as poor style as failure to hyphenate. Consider whether a hyphen is really needed when attaching prefixes to root words, such as in the following: nontraditional, overuse, pretest and unencumbered. (No hyphen is necessary in any of those words.) Furthermore, don’t hyphenate words that are actually one word; for example, online, wildlife and bellboy.

Over the past few years, Oxford has pulled the hyphens from a host of words, transforming some into a single word and others into two words sans hyphen. For the former, for example, we now write bumblebee, chickpea, leapfrog and pigeonhole. For the latter, fig leaf, ice cream, hobby horse and water bed are now correct.

With all of these rules and changes, some people have just given up on hyphens altogether. Yet, if you strive for clarity and literacy in your writing, as you should, then you must learn to deal with these little bits of punctuation. Any good stylebook or writing guide will provide the rules for hyphens, so I recommend keeping one handy for reference until the rules stick in your mind.