Hyphen-ation

A little mark can make a big difference.

From a story in the Columbia Journalism Review...

During the recent gathering of the American Copy Editors Society, a lot of “hyphen” jokes made the rounds. One was “Why we need hyphens: Because thirty-odd editors is not the same as thirty odd editors.”

In the first example, “thirty” and “odd” create a sort of number, and need to be joined together, the way “thirty-one” would be. In the second example, “thirty” and “odd” both modify “editors,” but they are independent of each other, so are not hyphenated, the way “a big blue box” is not hyphenated. And, of course, the first example counts the editors, while the second counts and judges them.

Need another example of why we need hyphens? This, from the ACES conference Twitter feed:

“Because the second-best margarita in Phoenix is not the same as the second best margarita in Phoenix.” In the first case, it is not the best margarita in town, but No. 2; “second” modifies not “margarita” but “best,” and so needs to be joined to it. In the second case, it is the best margarita in town, and you’re having another, thank you. “Second” modifies “margarita,” not “best,” so should not be joined.