Q. Some compound adjectives are always hyphenated, even after the verb. Is worry-free hyphenated after the verb, as in this sentence: Audit trails and compliance tools make the process worry-free?
A. A compound formed with free as the second element is hyphenated both before and after the noun it refers to. (Whether such a phrase follows a verb is irrelevant.) Please see CMOS 7.89, section 3, under the word free:
toll-free number
accident-free driver
the number is toll-free
the driver is accident-free
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I see three different treatments for upper right in the Q&A responses: upper right, upper-right, upper right-hand. Are there any guidelines for this term? Is it hyphenated as an adjective and not as a noun? (“In the upper-right corner” vs. “In the upper right”?)
A. Yes: hyphenate the adjective and leave the noun open. Find guidelines for this kind of term and many others at CMOS 7.89.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is there a rule I can point to in self-defense to justify the following hyphenation of compound nouns: “in private- and business life”? Business life is an unhyphenated compound noun in this sentence, but the first term, private, is hyphenated by virtue of being separated from the second term of its compound form, life. Does that sound right?
A. Not quite. Private life and business life are simply two adjective-noun combinations (not compounds), which you compacted a bit in your example by not repeating life. Think of similar constructions that you probably wouldn’t even consider hyphenating; yours is no different:
in big and small matters
through textbook and online instruction
at public and private venues
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. We have a raging style debate in our office. Our online editor says videogame should be one word. This usage is already common on more tech-focused blogs, and he says it is more accurate, as the interactive video genre has become so much more than a type of “game.” AP says two words. What does CMOS say?
A. Your office needs to choose a style guide and dictionary to arbitrate when there’s no single right answer. Chicago follows Merriam-Webster in any spellings not covered in CMOS, and M-W says “video game.” If your company’s focus is electronic media, you may prefer to go with what’s current in that industry.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m editing a manuscript that uses the terms over-commitment and under-commitment, sometimes in the same paragraph. The writers have hyphenated both terms. Does it look inconsistent to make the first term one word and the second term two words? Would it be less jarring to hyphenate both, as they have done? I’m fine with overcommitment as one word and under commitment as two, but I need some backing up so I can remove the unnecessary hyphens.
A. Chicago style closes up both terms. Under commitment looks odd; it makes under look like a preposition (as in under consideration). It would be best to either close up both or hyphenate both.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. If a writer presents a compound formed with a prefix that does not appear in Merriam-Webster, should it be hyphenated? Or is it OK to “create” a word by closing it up (if it doesn’t look too weird)? Of course I can’t think of any examples at the moment, but this comes up occasionally and I am often not sure how to proceed.
A. It’s not just OK—it’s necessary that editors and writers negotiate these things intelligently. Even if the compound does appear in M-W, dictionaries don’t always agree on the spelling of compounds. You should be open to your writer’s wanting it a different way. The author may be following a usage in his or her field that diverges from what’s in the dictionary. It’s why you keep a style sheet.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is login a verb or only a noun? I’m wondering because the following sentence seems wrong to me: “To login to your personal account, enter your user name and password.” Shouldn’t it say log in as two words rather than login?
A. The verb is log in; log-in or login is the noun. You can confirm this in a dictionary.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. When I entered an incorrect password for your website, I received this message: “Invalid Log In.” Shouldn’t “log in” be “login” in this case?
A. In a world where CMOS editors could stand with whips and chains over all the IT teams who write code for error messages for all the software packagers who supply all the websites, everything would be written consistently in Chicago style. As it is, however, CMOS editors have no such power. And quite honestly? We’re fine with that.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I haven’t paid much attention to style until recently when I had to begin doing some editing of copy again. Now I find that “copyeditor” is one word. What about people who edit books? Are they bookeditors? What about newspaper editors? Are they newspapereditors? Please justify. Thanks from Ice Age copy editor.
A. Dear Ice Age: Merriam-Webster agrees with you and still lists “copy editor,” although it gives the verb as “copyedit,” and this is probably the justification for the spelling “copyeditor” (which M-W now lists as a variant). I rather like it—at least I’d rather conserve my spleen for worse stuff. (For instance, have you noticed that nobody uses the word “who” as a relative pronoun anymore? “The parents that threw the party were arrested.” Tsk—)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. There’s a club for people who’ve worked at my office for twenty-five or more
years. It is called the Twenty-Five Year Club. I am wondering why they never added a hyphen between “five”
and “year” and also if it’s okay to retain the capital letters
for all the words that are hyphenated. I don’t want to rock the boat around here for a club that’s
been in existence longer than all of us have been in the Publications Office. We are preparing the program for their annual
dinner and latest round of inductees. Should we let them retain their old name? Has this come up in other places?
A. Yes, it often comes up in the titles of works. Chicago style would be Twenty-Five-Year Club. As for rocking the boat, maybe
Dear Abby has a website.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]