Q. This is going to throw some people, but here goes: I’m almost fifty, British school system education. We were taught that when an already hyphenated word appears at the end of a line, the hyphen should carry over into the new line:
After they were away for so long, their house
-warming party was a wonderful surprise.
Since the project I’m working on is British grammar, and yet I deal only with US people, this is a new one on them. Any input?
A. If this ever was British style (doubtful), it certainly isn’t now. If you can find an example in a published book or newspaper, do send it. Meanwhile, US style begins a line with a hyphen only rarely, such as for a broken URL.
Q. I have a question about the use of a hyphen in a compound modifier after a noun if a form of the verb “to be” is used. For example, “He is a well-known man” is hyphenated because the compound modifier comes before the noun. What about “The man is well known”? I’ve looked at various sources and they seem to contradict one another.
A. The placement of a compound modifier after a noun frequently involves the use of a “to be” verb, so yes, the rule applies in that situation. In your example, “well known” is open after the noun. You can find more examples in the hyphenation table at CMOS 7.89.
Q. I have a coworker—in a different department, I’m relieved to say—who insists that superlatives and comparatives should be hyphenated (for example, “That is the most-ridiculous rule in the history of the written word”). This particular coworker is, alas, in a position of considerable authority, and has cajoled (and, where necessary, bullied) others into following her overly hyphenated copyediting style. I have looked in vain for some sort of authoritative explanation regarding superlatives and comparatives, to no avail. I sincerely hope you will come to my rescue.
A. You and your colleague can find answers in our hyphenation table at CMOS 7.89, section 2, “Compounds according to parts of speech.” The hyphen is in fact sometimes needed, but compounds with more, most, and so forth may be left open unless ambiguity threatens:
the most ridiculous rules (most in number)
but
the most-ridiculous rules (most in wackiness)
Q. The clarification on compound color hyphenation in the 16th edition is greatly appreciated, but my coeditors and I still
disagree on a problem common in fiction: do general modifiers such as “dark,”
“light,” or “bright” count as compounds
when used with a color (“dark-blue tie,” akin to “midnight-blue
tie”) or as a set of distinct adjectives following Chicago’s preference for minimal
hyphenation (“dark blue tie,” akin to “old blue tie”)?
A. It depends on their meaning. If the blue is dark (or midnight), it is a color compound and can take a hyphen. But “old”
refers to the tie rather than some outdated shade of blue, so “old blue” is not
a compound, and a hyphen (“old-blue”) makes no sense. Consider too that when the
meanings of two versions (“dark blue tie” and “dark-blue
tie”) are so close as to be indistinguishable, it might not be worth your time to worry about it.
Q. Is co-worker hyphenated? The dictionary that I have does not list coworker—it only lists the word in relation to the prefix co- and shows co-worker in a list with other words. I looked in the hyphenation section of the manual that shows examples, and I don’t see examples for a prefix (like co-) and a noun.
A. Please see the examples in (can you guess?) the hyphenation table at CMOS 7.89, section 4, under co: “coequal, coauthor, coeditor, coordinate, cooperation, coworker, but co-op, co-opt.”
Q. Consider the following sentence: “I am bored by exhibitions of folk-, line-, and square dancing.”
Are the hyphens correct even though the compounds contain no hyphens? Similarly, “He was a poor student
in both middle- and high school.” I believe the hyphen is needed here, but will defer to your opinion.
A. In both sentences, the meaning is clear without hyphens. If you feel that something more is needed, repeat the missing element:
in both middle school and high school.
Q. A coeditor and I have a difference of opinion with regard to the following as it relates to “spare
use” of hyphens. I maintain that hyphens are necessary because both words together modify the noun that
follows. My coeditor thinks they aren’t needed. Can you settle the debate? Here are some examples: “IBM-based
software” or “IBM based software” “End-user
documentation” or “end user documentation”
A. Yes, I would use hyphens in both of your examples. Otherwise the first phrase could be taken as a noun-verb-object clause,
and in the second phrase “end” could be read as a verb. We don’t
object to hyphens, but rather avoid a proliferation of unneeded hyphens—it’s more
a house aesthetic than a rule. One bugbear is the hyphenation of an entire descriptive passage: “He
loved to use the throwing-the-baby-out-with-the-bath-water metaphor.” In this example, the writer could
either put quotation marks around the metaphor or rephrase entirely.
Q. Editors at the three campuses of the University of Illinois are questioning the use of hyphens in these terms for a report: Native-American students or Native American students? African-American students or African American students? Asian-American students or Asian American students? All three campuses are using hyphens for the second two examples, but not for the first. We aren’t able to say why exactly, and I wasn’t able to find an answer in CMOS. What are your thoughts on this? Thanks.
A. CMOS prefers not to hyphenate Americans of any sort, even when they appear in an adjective phrase. See CMOS 7.89, section 2 of the table, under “proper nouns and adjectives relating to geography or nationality.”
Q. I need to know the difference between a soft and hard hyphen in regard to proofing marks. Can you please help me out? Thank you kindly.
A. A hard hyphen is one that is typed deliberately and that must remain whether the phrase falls at the end of a line or in the middle of a sentence. An example is the hyphen in “two-thirds.” A soft hyphen, on the other hand, is there only when a word must be broken at the end of a line; it has likely been inserted by a word-processing feature, and it should disappear if the word falls in the middle of a sentence during typesetting. An example is “care-fully.” If you are preparing a manuscript for typesetting, there should be no soft hyphens in it, and if you notice one on the printed manuscript, you should mark it out (see fig. 2.5 in CMOS). If your word-processing program has an automatic hyphenation feature, it should be turned off.
Q. Is the prefix “non” always used without the hyphen now? For example: nonresponse, as opposed to non-response.
A. CMOS style is to close up prefixes unless there is a reason not to. Some editors leave the hyphen in to avoid doubling a letter: non-native, pre-exist, co-owner (the second of which is listed as one word in Merriam-Webster; “nonnative” is also listed, as an equal variant for the hyphenated form). We use an en dash when the prefix goes with an open compound noun: non–United States citizen. And we use a hyphen when the prefix goes with a hyphenated compound: non-English-speaking.