Q. How should the following be hyphenated, if at all? Two and a half hours.
A. There is no need for hyphens if you’re using the phrase as a noun: We’ll be there
in two and a half hours; two and a half hours is plenty of time. If you are using a phrase like that as a modifier, however,
you’ll need hyphens to hold it all together: a two-and-a-half-hour trip.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I tend to let my ear be my guide—and usually that works—so I need some clarification
to ensure I’m on the right track. Can you clarify that I am using my hyphens correctly? Facilitate a
core-team workshop to discuss . . . Develop a future-state document . . .
Conduct a future-state assessment . . . Identify change-management opportunities.
A. Maybe it’s time for a Q-tip. This kind of business-speak can become a habit to the point where we no
longer hear the ambiguities. Is a “future-state document” about the future of
your state or the state of the future? Are change-management opportunities about changing management or managing change? Hyphens
should be a last resort. Instead, try writing in more natural English: Facilitate a workshop where the core team will discuss
. . . Develop a document that looks ahead . . .
Assess the future of . . . Identify opportunities to manage change.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I can’t find hyphen placement in ages, such as “fourteen-years old” in the Manual. And what about “years-old”? Is that correct?
A. There is no need for hyphens in “fourteen years old.” If you are using a phrase like that to modify another word or phrase, however, you need to bind it together with hyphens (a fourteen-year-old grudge). Likewise, use a hyphen if “years old” comes before the noun it modifies (a years-old phobia over wearing the wrong earrings), but leave it open if it follows the noun (the moldy accretion on her cell phone was years old). Finally, you will need hyphens when the phrase is used as a noun (enough pizza for three fourteen-year-olds). Please see CMOS 7.89.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is “official-rate increases” hyphenated as written?
A. If the rate increases are official, you don’t need a hyphen. If the increases are hikes in the official
rate, use the hyphen. It’s possible that both descriptions are true, in which case you may officially
do as you please.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. “We are more than ready to analyze plan design changes.” For clarity would you
recommend inserting a hyphen between plan and design?
A. Yes, that’s a good solution, but perhaps not the best one. You have three words in a row that can be
read as verbs (plan, design, changes) following the actual verb. I would rewrite the sentence so these words read more clearly
as nouns: We are more than ready to analyze changes in the plan design.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is it prework or pre-work (for work that is to be done before a meeting)?
A. Prework is a pretty silly concept, if you think about it. I mean, is it work or not? It would be like preeating. How about
calling it “preparation”?
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am copyediting a parent resource website and this comes up a lot. How do I hyphenate “this class
is for three- to four-year-olds”? Is that correct? I have seen it as: three-to-four year-olds.
A. Your first version is the right one. “Three-to-four year-olds” would mean three
or four children who are a year old.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In a scholarly book about popular culture, the author has used several -esque word endings, usually hyphenated. According
to CMOS instructions for the similar constructions of -wide, -like, and -borne, I would be inclined to remove the hyphen. But the
result is unsavory. Also, in the case of open compounds, should the -esque ending acquire an en dash? See the following: Tarantinoesque,
Skeeteresque, Gandalfesque, Billy Idolesque, Sid Vicious–like, John Paul–esque,
The Parallax View–esque.
A. Unsavory indeed. (Your list should appear on the book jacket—who wouldn’t want
to know what the pope is doing in the middle of all the carnage?) The rule is that unless the usage is self-consciously playful,
you may have two -esques per book (no hyphens), but only if they are at least a hundred pages apart. If they involve en dashes,
however, you get none.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’ve tried to Look It Up, and I know other people are curious about this question, too—some
of ’em can’t even sleep at night for worrying about it—so
I’m writing you, O Mighty Editors, to ask where do the hyphens go in the phrase “two
and a half times the price”???
Q. Is it: early-fourth-century-AD amphora? What is proper way to handle early fourth century AD amphora?
A. V-e-r-y carefully. (You were setting me up, right?) The way you’ve styled it is fine. In contexts that exclude mention of BC centuries, however, the “AD” could be taken for granted and omitted, and CMOS 7.87 permits the omission of the first hyphen.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]