If you don’t think hyphens matter, try telling a friend that you’re having extra-marital sex when you really mean extra marital sex. The first might indicate you’re not happy in your marriage; the second signals that you’ve never been happier.
And don’t confuse a little-used car with a little used-car. The first suggests a low number on the odometer; the second, a low number on the weight scale. Big difference.
Grammarians at North Carolina State University contend that hyphenation is “the most complicated and perverse issue in editorial style.” First, you have to learn the difference between a hyphen and a dash. Then you have to know a multitude of rules—and a host of exceptions—about when you use one, the other or nothing at all.
First, the difference between a hyphen and a dash: A hyphen is a short, horizontal punctuation mark that joins two words (for example, extra and marital into extra-marital) while a dash—which is physically longer than the hyphen—separates sentences into segments.
What are the basic hyphen rules?
• Use hyphens with compound numbers. If I’ve said this sixty-three times, I’ve said it ninety-one times. Most publications prefer 63 and 91 in the previous sentence, but if you must write out larger numbers, hyphenate.
• Hyphenate two-word (or longer) adjectives when they appear before nouns, as in: Technology-sector executives are feeling the pressure from right-leaning politicians.
• Do not take hyphens for granted. There are many curiosities among hyphenated words: eyewitness vs. eye-opener; proactive vs. pro-bono; un-American vs. unnatural. When in doubt, consult your dictionary.
Given the hyphen’s lesser role in our language—it’s no exclamation point!—it was a surprise to learn that this low-key punctuation mark had recently disrupted the smooth operation of the Apple iPhone. Starting in late 2018, iPhone users noticed that if they turned on their keyboard speaker and said the word “hyphen” five times quickly, the phone would shut down.
The shutdown did no lasting damage; users just turned their phones back on. But in February 2019, Apple announced the hyphen glitch had been fixed. Now, if you speak “hyphen” five times into your iPhone (yes, I tried it), the screen will stay lit and show only this: - - - - -.
Neil Chethik, aka the Grammar Gourmet, is executive director of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (www.carnegiecenterlex.org) and author of “FatherLoss” and “VoiceMale.” The Carnegie Center offers writing classes and seminars for businesses and individuals. Contact Chethik at neil@ carnegiecenterlex.org or 859-254-4175.