Hyphens, En Dashes, Em Dashes
Q. I work for a travel company and we are trying to figure out the proper way to write “eight-night stay.” I feel the number should be spelled out with a hyphen, while other people feel “8 night” is correct. I’ve been trying to find an answer in the style guide, but no luck. Thanks for the help. Answer »
Q. In a previous Q&A, a curious reader asked you to weigh in on the subject of hyphenated Americans. You responded that “ CMOS prefers not to hyphenate Americans of any sort, even when they appear in an adjective phrase.” Were it actually an adjectival phrase, like “apathetic Americans,” I would be inclined to agree; however, I maintain that the examples “African-American,” “Asian-American,” and even “Native-American” (or as I prefer, American-Indian) are all compound proper nouns and must be hyphenated. They are not merely Americans who happen to be African, but rather African-Americans—a distinct ethnic and cultural group. Irrefutable logic? Answer »
Q. Are poets allowed poetic license to do practically anything with punctuation? I ask this in view of a poem by Emily Dickinson that seems to use the em dash in bewildering and inscrutable ways. Answer »
Q. A bill has been proposed dealing with price gouging. Would it be correct to write Anti-Price Gouging Act or Anti-Price-Gouging Act? I have seen it both ways. Answer »
Q. Which phrase is hyphenated correctly: “a three-to-four-pound chicken” or “a three- to four-pound chicken”? I’m inclined to go with the former because the phrase refers to a chicken weighing between three and four pounds. However, copy editors and proofreaders tend to prefer the latter example. Answer »
Q. Hi. I work for a county auditor’s office which publishes a voters’ guide for each general election and primary. Each candidate writes his or her own statement to the voters, as do supporters and opponents of ballot measures. In the interest of space and fairness, we limit the number of words each writer can use. Our recurring question: should we count a hyphenated word group (such as “32-year-old”) as one word or three? I’m in favor of counting such constructions as one word. What’s your vote? Thanks! Answer »
Q. According to CMOS table 6.1 (14th ed.), a noun plus a participle would have a hyphen, and the prefix “non” is a closed compound. So, my question is how would you hyphenate the word “nonlife-threatening” or would you avoid such a word altogether? Thanks. Answer »
Q. The menu in our cafeteria shows that enchiladas are available “Tues.–Fri.” However, when I ordered one on a Wednesday, I was informed that enchiladas are available on Tuesday AND Friday, not Tuesday THROUGH Friday. When I informed the cafeteria manager that this was incorrect, she seemed shocked and refused to change the sign. Please help determine who is correct! Answer »
Q. Would you hyphenate “less skilled workers” or “more efficient method”? Section 7.90 of CMOS 15 (subsection 1: adverb not ending in ly + participle or adverb) indicates that compounds with “least” and “most” are usually open. If you would hyphenate, or if you wouldn’t, what is the reason? A colleague and I do not hyphenate such compounds, and we haven’t for years, but we can’t quite say why. Any insight you can provide would be appreciated. Answer »
Q. I’m copyediting a novel in which the author has gone hyphen-mad. She is fond of such terms as “horse-yard,” “juniper-wood,” “yard-gate,” “cedar-grove,” and so on. I want to defer to an author’s stylistic preferences, but I feel too much is too much. In most cases, the meaning seems perfectly clear without a hyphen. What can I say to this author? Answer »
Q. Dear CMOS, I am experiencing a meltdown at work. My colleagues believe that “test taker” is one word, while I believe that it should be hyphenated as “test-taker.” I am also unclear, after reading the CMOS, about another form of this phrase, “test taking.” If I write, “It is an important strategy for test taking,” should “test-taking” be hyphenated? Thank you for your help. This has become a highly debated issue within our office and I would love to resolve it once and for all. Answer »
Q. Are there compounds that are always hyphenated, such as “up-to-date” or “step-by-step,” or are these only hyphenated when modifying another word, as in “up-to-date rules” or “step-by-step procedures”? My company is writing “We’ll walk you through it step by step,” and I thought that it should be “We’ll walk you through it step-by-step.” Answer »
Q. Please help! My British colleagues keep giving me books to proofread (for U.S. publication, so they should be in American style) in which phrases like “parent-teacher relationship” and “human-animal bond” contain an en dash rather than a hyphen. Chicago says that if either “parent” or “teacher” were an open compound (such as, I suppose, “math teacher”), an en dash would be appropriate—so am I to conclude that since this is not the case I should use a hyphen? As far as I can tell, none of the examples in the section on hyphenation pertain to this construction. Are the en dashes correct, or are they just British? Answer »
Q. I seem to remember from somewhere that breaking a word from the recto page to the verso page should be avoided. I can’t find such a rule in The Chicago Manual of Style. Is this a figment of my imagination? Also, what about breaking a word from the verso page to the recto page? Answer »
Q. Is it your recommendation to still use a hyphen in a phrases like “mid-1985”? If so, then would it be best to write “mid- to late 1985”? Answer »
Q. In sports, does the score require a hyphen or should you use an en dash? What about decisions on the Supreme Court? Answer »
Q. Do you recommend using a hyphen when spelling out the time of day? Answer »
Q. I have a hyphenation question that I wasn’t able to resolve after reading CMOS or the Q&A page on your website. I am in a debate with a fellow attorney about the proper hyphenation for the phrase “explicitly-defined” when used in the context of “an explicitly-defined rule governing adoptions.” My colleague insists there should be no hyphen between “explicitly” and “defined.” I think that there should be a hyphen between the two words. Answer »
Q. Can you offer any guidance as to how best to render people’s height? I’ve seen “five feet, two inches” (tall), “five-feet-two-inches” “five-feet-two,” “five-foot-two” (yikes!), “five-two,” all of the preceding with the hyphens placed otherwise or omitted, and, of course, good old 5' 2''. I’ve searched “Chicago” but haven’t found the answer. Help! Answer »
Q. Dear Chicago, I’m in a debate with my 73-year-old publisher. I lost my AP Style book in a recent move and I can’t remember the rule for putting hyphens in a person’s age. My publisher says it is only used when the age is a modifier. I say it needs to be used when it is a noun as well, such as: “The healthy 18-year-old jumped in his car . . .” He claims it is only used in a sentence similar to this: “An 8-year-old boy.” Please let me know which is correct so I can end this debate and put this magazine to bed! Thank you, Missouri. Answer »
Q. Now here’s one phrase I’ve always found difficult to hyphenate. “Foreign policy making elite,” referring to an elite making foreign policy. Would Chicago write “foreign policymaking elite”? Answer »
Q. When referring to a telephone call for which the calling party is not charged, is it (a) a “toll free call,” (b) a “tollfree call,” or (c) a “toll-free call.” My own preference is for c first, then b. However, our marketing bunch uses a. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. This is driving me nuts (or at least nuttier than usual). Answer »
Q. What is the difference in usage between an em dash and an en dash? Answer »
Q. I am an American translator working in Germany and I am having difficulty determining whether the following formulation is correct according to Chicago style: Answer »
Q. In “University of California Berkeley,” for example, which mark would you place before “Berkeley”: hyphen, en dash, or comma? (I couldn’t find this in your manual.) My preference would be either the en dash or the comma, but never the hyphen. What say you? Answer »
