Thursday, April 17, 2008
Dehyphenate, rehyphenate!
OK, y'all -- and this means all -- until you know how to use hyphens, just quit. Surrender your hyphens! You can leave them in the comments.
From The Associated Press Stylebook:
Dash (--). Make a dash by striking the hyphen key twice. Put a space on either side of the dash: Smith offered a plan -- it was unprecedented -- to raise revenues.
Hyphen (-). Use a hyphen for compound adjectives before the noun: well-known actor, full-time job, 20-year sentence. Do not use a hyphen when the compound modifier occurs after the verb: The actor was well known. Her job became full time. He was sentenced to 20 years.
Do not use a hyphen to denote an abrupt change in a sentence -- use a dash.
:-)
--ER
Comments:
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Ha! Actually I quibble with this:
"well-known actor"
Maybe that's a compound adjective, but "well" is an adverb modifying "known" -- and so it doesn't require a hyphen!
"well-known actor"
Maybe that's a compound adjective, but "well" is an adverb modifying "known" -- and so it doesn't require a hyphen!
Use semicolons in complex lists requiring commas that would be confusing otherwise:
Also from The AP:
He is survived by a son, John Smith, of Chicago; three daughters, Jane Smith, of Wichita, Kan., Mary Smith, of Denver, and Susan Smith, of Boston; and a sister, Martha Smith, of Omaha, Neb.
(Note: AP requires the state after Wichita and Omaha, but not after Chicago, Denver and Boston. AP also has a state abbreviation style different from the postal service's.)
Also from The AP:
He is survived by a son, John Smith, of Chicago; three daughters, Jane Smith, of Wichita, Kan., Mary Smith, of Denver, and Susan Smith, of Boston; and a sister, Martha Smith, of Omaha, Neb.
(Note: AP requires the state after Wichita and Omaha, but not after Chicago, Denver and Boston. AP also has a state abbreviation style different from the postal service's.)
You could also argue that "well-known" has been an accepted compound long enough to become simply "wellknown." It's happened to less likely candidates. Too bad you're not closer to Atlanta -- you could drop in on some of the editors' meetings where literally hours will be spent agonizing over whether or not a word is one word, two separate words, or hyphenated. (your tax dollars at work in extremely slow motion)
Wish I could get away with using AP style, but unfortunately my employer publishes medical/scientific documents so I'm stuck with AMA.
The only good use for a semicolon, Alan, is to serve as a wink in an emoticon. ;)
ER, academic publishing in the liberal arts and some social sciences still uses the old state abbreviations, too, but medicine (i.e., AMA) uses the two letter Zip Code version.
Wish I could get away with using AP style, but unfortunately my employer publishes medical/scientific documents so I'm stuck with AMA.
The only good use for a semicolon, Alan, is to serve as a wink in an emoticon. ;)
ER, academic publishing in the liberal arts and some social sciences still uses the old state abbreviations, too, but medicine (i.e., AMA) uses the two letter Zip Code version.
Actually, Alan used the semicolon quite well. It can serve as a hard comma for a compound sentence without the conjunction, just as Alan has used it.
It can be quite handy as long as it is used properly.
The question is -- and I mean this with all due respect -- why ER feels the need to tell us to ax the use of a hyphen. Isn't that what they're teaching our 16- and 17-year-old English students?
:-)
It can be quite handy as long as it is used properly.
The question is -- and I mean this with all due respect -- why ER feels the need to tell us to ax the use of a hyphen. Isn't that what they're teaching our 16- and 17-year-old English students?
:-)
Oh, and AP has recently changed the need for San Antonio. My first stylebook, circa 1987, indicated the need for Texas following the city. My newest version lists San Antonio with San Diego as a city that can stand alone.
Teditor, I ain't askin' nobody to quit usin' the hyphen; I'm implorin' them to quit misusin' the hyphen. :-)
And that there is what I consider the proper use of a semicolon. :-)
And that there is what I consider the proper use of a semicolon. :-)
Well dang, you learn somthng new everyday on this blog. Here I thought that a hyphen was something you had before you lost your virginity and I come to discover it is really only half a dash. So next time I cook and it calls for a dash of salt, I'll just put two hyphens in.
And I knew that a colon was attached to the asshole and I thought by logic that a semi-colon would be attached to that bag you get from an ileostomy. Now I learn it is only part of an emoticolon. I really need to work on my vocabualry.
And I knew that a colon was attached to the asshole and I thought by logic that a semi-colon would be attached to that bag you get from an ileostomy. Now I learn it is only part of an emoticolon. I really need to work on my vocabualry.
Had a mess to clean up before I could post this'n. Seems I was takin' a swig when I read Doc's virginity rant, and it spewed outta my mouth and nose.
That's funny right there.
That's funny right there.
Okay, okay -- is this about my misuse of the dash in my comment in your previous post?? ;)
English, now known as Language Arts, has always been my best subject. Truly, though, I didn't know about adding space before and after the dash. Maybe I was absent that day. I know ignorance of the law is no excuse, so I beg for mercy. :)
When it comes to hyphens, however, I'm happy when people use them. I hate having to re-read (or is that "reread?") a sentence because it didn't make any sense read without hyphens where needed.
Now you're making me nervous to comment on your blog! ;)
Drlobojo, that was very, VERY funny!
English, now known as Language Arts, has always been my best subject. Truly, though, I didn't know about adding space before and after the dash. Maybe I was absent that day. I know ignorance of the law is no excuse, so I beg for mercy. :)
When it comes to hyphens, however, I'm happy when people use them. I hate having to re-read (or is that "reread?") a sentence because it didn't make any sense read without hyphens where needed.
Now you're making me nervous to comment on your blog! ;)
Drlobojo, that was very, VERY funny!
# posted by 
: 4:44 PM
: 4:44 PM
Hey, Trix, did your ME tell you that I said howdy? I left such a note when she agreed to run some information no the Guymon rodeo.
And ER's a fine editor. Trust me. His fingers move at about 100 words per minute on the keyboard, but there's never any backup in it. If'n it were for "publication" -- as if this here Web site ain't published -- he'd have gone through it a couple of times after the writin's done to make sure it's edited properly.
But that'd make this too much like work, and I can see why his loosy-goosy fingers just hit the "send" notice.
And ER's a fine editor. Trust me. His fingers move at about 100 words per minute on the keyboard, but there's never any backup in it. If'n it were for "publication" -- as if this here Web site ain't published -- he'd have gone through it a couple of times after the writin's done to make sure it's edited properly.
But that'd make this too much like work, and I can see why his loosy-goosy fingers just hit the "send" notice.
That should be on. Speaking of self-editing ... sheesh.
Oh, and Frenzied, there isn't a grammar police to say there should be spaces between the dashes. It's a journalistic thing, as far as I know, and it looks a hell of a lot better with the space -- just like this.
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Oh, and Frenzied, there isn't a grammar police to say there should be spaces between the dashes. It's a journalistic thing, as far as I know, and it looks a hell of a lot better with the space -- just like this.
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