Q. There’s a club for people who’ve worked at my office for twenty-five or more years. It is called the Twenty-Five Year Club. I am wondering why they never added a hyphen between “five” and “year” and also if it’s okay to retain the capital letters for all the words that are hyphenated. I don’t want to rock the boat around here for a club that’s been in existence longer than all of us have been in the Publications Office. We are preparing the program for their annual dinner and latest round of inductees. Should we let them retain their old name? Has this come up in other places?
A. Yes, it often comes up in the titles of works. Chicago style would be Twenty-Five-Year Club. As for rocking the boat, maybe Dear Abby has a website.