Q. Do you hyphenate a proper noun + participle? For example, “the Delaware Department of Education-approved modules for Common Core”?
A. You can do that (with an en dash, however, rather than a hyphen), but it’s horribly awkward. A hyphen works well with a single word or title (USDA-approved meat), but for a long phrase rewrite: Common Core modules approved by the Delaware Department of Education. Subsequently, you could shorten to “DDE-approved modules.”
Q. Is it necessary to hyphenate “car-rental agency,” or is “car rental agency” clear enough? Also, the same question as it applies to “16th-century ornamental bridge.” Sometimes, I think writing has gone hyphen-crazy.
A. As we say at CMOS 7.89, “In general, Chicago prefers a spare hyphenation style: if no suitable example or analogy can be found either in this section or in the dictionary, hyphens should be added only if doing so will prevent a misreading or otherwise significantly aid comprehension.” You will find in the table at 7.89 that adjectives formed with century are hyphenated; nouns are left open; for phrases like “car rental agency,” the writer can be the judge.
Q. I’m writing an email to academics, selling a product offered “24/7, 365-days a year.” Should I write “24-hours a day, 365-days a year”? (The word year appears at the end of my sentence.) I am stumped with the slashes (/) and the hyphens. Thank you for your time and help!
A. You don’t need any hyphens, and it’s always nice to be consistent in your styling. So either “24/7, 365 days/year” or “24 hours a day, 365 days a year.” Hyphens come into play when you use a phrase like that to modify something else (our 365-days-a-year service) or when you use it in place of a noun (an eighty-four-year-old).
Q. Let’s say you have a phrasal adjective that includes an open or hyphenated compound, the word and, and an attributive noun, such as “sterling silver and diamond.” When placing this phrasal adjective before a noun (such as brooch), how would you use en dashes or hyphens? Would it be “sterling-silver–and-diamond brooch” or “sterling silver–and-diamond brooch” or something else? I would like to do “brooch of sterling silver and diamonds,” but that won’t fly with the fashion editors where I work.
A. Use no punctuation if the meaning is clear without it, or use simple hyphens (sterling-silver-and-diamond brooch) if otherwise it might look like two items: sterling silver, and a diamond brooch. In a paragraph or catalog about brooches, you are probably safe without punctuation. Reordering the items might help. When you’re tempted to use one hyphen and one en dash or use two en dashes, you are almost certainly overthinking and about to produce something monstrous.
Q. My understanding is that the word family is a noun or adjective. So if you use it in a sentence like “We ordered a family-sized pizza for the party,” is the hyphen used correctly in this instance despite the fact family ends in ly?
A. When CMOS 5.93 says “A two-word phrasal adjective that begins with an adverb ending in -ly is not hyphenated,” it’s referring to adverbs (not nouns or adjectives) where -ly is added to a root word: slyly, gladly. Words like ply, homily, and family happen to end in -ly, but the -ly is not an ending; it’s part of the word. And they aren’t adverbs. The section of the hyphenation table (CMOS 7.89) that you’re looking for is “noun + participle” (family + sized), where you will see that the hyphen is correct.
Q. I’ve read the sections on prefixes and on parentheses with other punctuation, and would be glad if you would weigh in on the following type of structure: (pre)defined or (pre-)defined; (sub)set or (sub-)set. I think it would be reasonable to rule that solid prefixes in parentheses remain solid, and hyphenated prefixes retain their hyphenation. I would generally explain such compact forms before proceeding to use them. Or, if they occur only occasionally, simply expand them. What do you think?
A. Chicago style closes up prefixes whenever possible, and we discourage constructions like (sub)set, which are at worst meaningless and at best ambiguous. “Set or subset” is clearer. Writers who distinguish “defined” from “predefined” should make sure the difference isn’t just of the “sliced/presliced bread” type.
Q. We use postdoctoral as one word. Should we then also use postbaccalaureate as one word for consistency, even though spell check wants a hyphen or space? Both are being used as adjectives.
A. Unless your spelling checker follows the same style manual you do, you should feel free to disregard it! Chicago closes up words with the prefix post-, as does Merriam-Webster.
Q. When using an en dash to indicate a range of time, is it wrong to use from in front of the time range (from 9am–5pm)?
A. Although most readers will know what you mean by it, “from 9–5” is inelegant because it uses a spelled-out word for the from part of the expression and lets a symbol (the en dash) take the place of the to part of the expression. The reader is left hanging, waiting for the to part, as in “We work a variety of shifts, anywhere from 9–5 to 11–3.” Or “Several age ranges were surveyed, from 5–10 to 70–75.” If you want to use from with 9–5, make the to explicit: We work from 9 to 5. Otherwise omit from: We work 9–5.
Q. When announcing a fundraising event, is it hyphenated or not? Stay at Home Tea or Stay-at-Home Tea?
A. There are no special punctuation rules for fundraising events. Your event title requires hyphens (as in the second example). However, if your event were called Golden Anniversary Tea, or Empty Nesters’ Tea, it would not. Please see the hyphenation table at CMOS 7.89 to learn more about when to hyphenate.
Q. Dear CMS, I am nearly done revising my dissertation, but my advisor may not pass me on account of my lengthy em dashes! I am using Times New Roman, and apparently the em dashes are too long. Is the standard em dash in Times acceptable for thesis publication? If so, can I point my advisor to something in the CMS on this? (I am serious. I don’t think she would not pass me, but she has circled every em dash and said, “Too long. Fix!” on my drafts, and I’d like not to chance it.)
A. Well, that’s pretty crazy. For publication, it makes no difference what font is in the manuscript—typesetters follow the publisher’s specs, not a Word document or printout—but it looks as though you might have to change the font for your dissertation. Palatino has shorter em dashes than Times Roman, for instance. If you are required to use Times Roman, then change only the dashes to Palatino and maybe no one will notice. You can make a global replacement. Good luck!