1. (From Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss, 2003)
The Hyphen
(From Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss, 2003)

2. “There are a great many hyphens left in America
“There are a great many hyphens left in America. For my part, I think the most un-American thing in the world is a hyphen.”
Woodrow Wilson, 1919
Former US President,
Re-elected in 1916.)

3. Uses of the Hyphen A re-formed musical group.
1. To avoid ambiguity.
A re-formed musical group.
(The group separated and then came back together)
A reformed musical group.
(The group had “problems/issues” but has since changed for the better)
A long-standing friend. (Friend for a long time)
A long standing friend. (The friend has been standing upright for a long time)

4. 3. Linking nouns to other nouns.
2. Spelling out numbers.
Twenty-three.
Forty-two.
3. Linking nouns to other nouns.
The London-Brighton train.
American-French relations.
Tarzan the ape-man.

5. 4. A noun phrase modifying another noun.
Stainless steel – not hyphenated, just an adjective modifying a noun.
Stainless-steel kitchen – “stainless steel” works as a noun phrase, and the hyphen prevents reading it as a stainless kitchen made out of steel.

6. 5. Certain (but not all) prefixes.
Un-American
Anti-Communist
Quasi-grammatical
But not:
Prejudice
Subordinate

7. 6. Spelling out words
Muammar Qaddafi’s name has been spelled:
G-h-a-d-d-a-f-i
K-a-d-d-a-f-i
G-a-d-h-a-f-i
K-h-a-d-a-f-y
(and over 30 other variants)

8. 7. To avoid “letter collision” in compound words:
Shell-like, not Shelllike
Re-elect, not reelect.
De-ice, not deice.

9. 8. Use a hyphen to divide words at the end of a line if necessary, and make the break only between syllables:pref-er-ence sell-ing in-di-vid-u-al-ist
9. For line breaks, divide already-hyphenated words only at the hyphen:
mass-produced self-conscious

10. When does a word stop being hyphenated?
Through repeated use, typically.
Previous hyphenated words:
To-morrow
Sub-marine
Good-bye

11. What’s the difference? Little-used car. Little used car.
Pickled-eggs salesman.
Pickled eggs salesman.