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 1. To avoid ambiguity. A re-formed musical group.
A long-standing friend.
A long standing friend.

4. Large schedule establishment overheads
Or large schedule-establishment overheads?
Locally constant, linear and quadratic approximations
Is this a list of three approximations? Locally constant, linear, and quadratic?
Or locally-constant linear and locally-constant quadratic approximations?

5. 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.

6. 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.

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

8. 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)

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

10. 8. To indicate an unfinished word on a line.
“I was walking through the woods and suddenly dis-covered…”
9. To indicate hesitation and stammering.
“M-m-my n-name is B-B-Billy B-B-Bibbet.” –One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey

11. 10. To qualify a forthcoming hyphenated phrase.
He was a two- or three-year-old.
Whether you’re pro- or anti-religion…

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

13. What’s the difference? Little-used car. Little used car.
Pickled-herring merchant.
Pickled herring merchant.