6 ms·

The Hyphen Affair

12 points by samclemens 7y ago

robbrown451 7y ago
One argument against requiring the hyphen in such situations ("first-quarter touchdown", "emergency-room visit") is that doing so encourages constructions that are ambiguous if spoken aloud. Since the hyphen never makes it into speech, you end up relying too much on the punctuation to convey meaning. Note that certain punctuation is often spoken aloud for instance people often say "quote" (and maybe "unquote"). Other punctuation such as exclamation point and comma can affect how it is spoken. Technically you can speak very slowly and group words together and use a bit of accenting to indicate how words are grouped, but still. I generally don't use a hyphen unless it is absolutely needed to make it clear. I find them kind of ugly and can break the flow.
- mattlutze 7y ago
  The hyphens in compound modifiers often (usually? I suppose it depends on the person) do get spoken. It's common to speed up speaking cadence or change breathing or pauses through a set of compound modifiers to indicate which are associated and which are distinct. Aesthetic tastes aside, it should be all about having the maximum chance to transfer the writer's thought into the reader's head, and it's cool if AP are finding not having to hyphenate still gets the job done. If nothing else, it can be really difficult to squeeze longer hyphenated phrases into paper columns and such.
joshuaheard 7y ago
"'If a hyphen makes the meaning clearer, use it. If it just adds clutter and distraction to the sentence, don’t use it,' it now reads." I would say the test is whether it makes your writing easier to read. I use it when I want to link the two adjectives together, so the reader knows one adjective refers to the other and not to the noun, for instance, "ice-cold beer".
- DonHopkins 7y ago
  Which is clearer: ;) or ;-) ?
chasing 7y ago
Good writing is a form user experience design. Do what you feel you must. Adopt a personal style and some flair. Use punctuation as you wish. But know that the goal is (generally) clarity and communication, not blind adherence to any specific rule.
sdenton4 7y ago
I expected this to be about Dear Leader's recent tweet: "To show you how dishonest the LameStream Media is, I used the word Liddle’, not Liddle, in discribing Corrupt Congressman Liddle’ Adam Schiff. Low ratings @CNN purposely took the hyphen out and said I spelled the word wrong. A small but never ending situation with CNN!" This, of course, being the perfect time to open a new front in the grammar wars.
DonHopkins 7y ago
A hyphen is kind of like infix-parenthesis / (infix parenthesis) for grouping words together tighter than spaces.

12 points by samclemens 7y ago

One argument against requiring the hyphen in such situations ("first-quarter touchdown", "emergency-room visit") is that doing so encourages constructions that are ambiguous if spoken aloud. Since the hyphen never makes it into speech, you end up relying too much on the punctuation to convey meaning. Note that certain punctuation is often spoken aloud for instance people often say "quote" (and maybe "unquote"). Other punctuation such as exclamation point and comma can affect how it is spoken. Technically you can speak very slowly and group words together and use a bit of accenting to indicate how words are grouped, but still. I generally don't use a hyphen unless it is absolutely needed to make it clear. I find them kind of ugly and can break the flow.

mattlutze 7y ago
The hyphens in compound modifiers often (usually? I suppose it depends on the person) do get spoken. It's common to speed up speaking cadence or change breathing or pauses through a set of compound modifiers to indicate which are associated and which are distinct. Aesthetic tastes aside, it should be all about having the maximum chance to transfer the writer's thought into the reader's head, and it's cool if AP are finding not having to hyphenate still gets the job done. If nothing else, it can be really difficult to squeeze longer hyphenated phrases into paper columns and such.

joshuaheard 7y ago

"'If a hyphen makes the meaning clearer, use it. If it just adds clutter and distraction to the sentence, don’t use it,' it now reads." I would say the test is whether it makes your writing easier to read. I use it when I want to link the two adjectives together, so the reader knows one adjective refers to the other and not to the noun, for instance, "ice-cold beer".

DonHopkins 7y ago
Which is clearer: ;) or ;-) ?

chasing 7y ago

Good writing is a form user experience design. Do what you feel you must. Adopt a personal style and some flair. Use punctuation as you wish. But know that the goal is (generally) clarity and communication, not blind adherence to any specific rule.

sdenton4 7y ago

I expected this to be about Dear Leader's recent tweet: "To show you how dishonest the LameStream Media is, I used the word Liddle’, not Liddle, in discribing Corrupt Congressman Liddle’ Adam Schiff. Low ratings @CNN purposely took the hyphen out and said I spelled the word wrong. A small but never ending situation with CNN!" This, of course, being the perfect time to open a new front in the grammar wars.

DonHopkins 7y ago

A hyphen is kind of like infix-parenthesis / (infix parenthesis) for grouping words together tighter than spaces.