I understand that Latin phrases are not normally hyphenated. I also understand that adjective-modifying adverbs normally do receive a hyphen (despite this parenthetically invoked exception). So, which is most correct? Option A: There is no ex ante profitable strategy. Option B: There is no ex ante-profitable strategy. Option C: There is no ex-ante-profitable strategy. I … Read more
I cannot seem to find the best way to express this, both in terms of grammar and "correct sounding" feel to English/American readers (which I am not). So, this is the scenario: the serum concentration of two peptides, peptide A and peptide B, is measured in a group of patients. The level of these peptides … Read more
I do not know if it is correct to use a hyphen between the words wrap, and around, in describing a porch that wraps around a house. Answer The adjective “wraparound” does not have a hyphen in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, in case you’re American, or Oxford English Dictionary (free citation through Lexico), in case you’re British, … Read more
I have seen the compound words “en dash” and “em dash” sometimes appear with a hyphen (“en-dash”) and sometimes without. Are both the hyphenated and the unhyphenated forms correct? Answer There is no unanimity on the proper form of this term—at least not among U.S. authorities. Merriam-Webster’s Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003) doesn’t include entries for … Read more
I read a few articles from APA Style Blog’s “Hyphenation Station” series (https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/hyphenation/), and I’m using these tips to guide my writing. I was wondering if anyone on this forum could help me alleviate some confusion with DIY (craft and baking) article hyphenations. In particular, for each bullet point, I’m not sure which of the … Read more
The elements of the periodic table are arranged in columns or groups. This way, carbon belongs to group IV, whereas nitrogen is in group V. If these group names are used as adjectives, should they be hyphenated or is hyphenation optional? For example, which should I use: Different group-IV materials can be used in microelectronics. … Read more
Consider a type of software that is specific to an industry. We might say it’s… industry-specific If software is specific to a particular use case (“use case” is a software term) would we say it’s… use case-specific The usage of the hyphen has me befuddled. “case-specific” sticks together, visually, while “use” is off by itself. … Read more
I’m having some confusion here as I’ve been tasked with checking that some texts fit a style guide for work, and it requires that two adjectives directly preceding a noun be hyphenated, e.g. ‘well-dressed woman’. That example is straightforward enough for me, but I have no clue how far it extends. I’m seeing a lot … Read more
I’m creating a presentation for school and I want to title my presentation “The not so secret secret to weight loss” My meaning is that people act as if it is a secret when in fact it is very common knowledge. Do I need a comma between the two words or a hyphen? Or is … Read more
Specifically, Co-Project leader is what I’m confused about. For reference, project leader would be written as separated words without any hyphen, obviously. However, once you have a vice project leader, which we mark with a “Co” prefix in our company, I’m suddenly unsure how to properly write it down. There are really only four combinations … Read more
