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Tim wrote to me to say, ‘Can you tell me about the use/mis-use/misuse of the hyphen? Why do some prominent newspapers insist on cost-of-living? Why is that phrase hyphenated? What about a few words about the proper use of the hyphen? Anything to protect our language is always appreciated.’
I did give Tim his ‘few words’ on the ‘Q and A’ page—but it’s worth saying a bit more about these tricky little dashes.
The word ‘hyphen’ came into English from a Greek expression meaning ‘together’ or ‘in one.’
It’s recorded in our language from the early 1600s.
Here’s the official and formal definition from the Oxford English Dictionary: ‘A short dash or line (-) used to connect two words together as a compound; also, to join the separated syllables of a word, as at the end of a line; or to divide a word into parts for etymological or other purposes.’
In other words, a hyphen is a short dash that links words (or parts of words). A common use of hyphens is to link modifiers to the words they modify (‘cost-of-living’ or ‘brother-in-law’).
This is done to show the link between the words—and show that it is a strong link.
That is worth doing if it’s the link you want to stress.
But the hyphen is the most variable element in writing words—so there will never be universal agreement on its use.
For instance, the English Oxford dictionary uses hyphens more often than the American Webster’s does.
The best rule is: restrict the use of hyphens as far as possible.
So, keep them in ‘cost-of-living’ if you want to show that the three words are one idea.
And keep them between parts of words where needed—between the two Os of ‘co-ordinate’ or the two Is of ‘anti-intellectual.’
But where it is possible to drop them, drop them.
Don’t allow them to breed: restrict the use of hyphens as far as possible.
And to eliminate confusion, let me add that there are three dashes commonly used in texts.
The hyphen is the shortest of these (-).
The other two are the N-dash and the M-dash.
The N-dash is a little longer than a hyphen and appears between words with a space on either side – like this.
The M-dash is the longest of the three, and links words in a sentence like this—as you can see.
To create an N-dash on your word processor hit space, followed by two hyphens, followed by a space and the next word (word / space / hyphen / hyphen / space / word).
The computer will turn the two hyphens into an N-dash.
To create an M-dash do the same but leave out the spaces (word / hyphen / hyphen / word).
The computer will then turn the two hyphens into an M-dash.
Both N-dashes and M-dashes can be used in place of commas (bracketing off parenthetical expressions) or in place of a colon (setting up the second part of a sentence as the logical conclusion of the first part).
Does that help at all?
Tonight, I will be a panellist on 'The Sunday Showdown' on Sky News (7pm AEST).
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If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
I have just taken part in Jenny Wheeler's podcast "The Joys of Binge Reading." You can listen to the conversation here:
https://thejoysofbingereading.com/kel-richards-country-house-mysteries/
I have signed the anti-Semitism pledge, and I encourage you to do the same. You can sign the letter here: www.saynotoantisemitism.org
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
BOOKS:
* My latest book is -- "Defending the Gospel" (second, fully revised, edition). You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
* You can find all Kel's books currently in print here -- Booktopia Search Results for 'kel richards'. We sell books, hardback, paperback, audio, CDs.
* And also here -- Amazon.com.au : Kel Richards
* And you'll find more here -- Search: 4 results found for "Kel Richards" – matthiasmedia.com.au
* Many of Kel's out of print books can be found at ABE Books -- Kel Richards - AbeBooks
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