Compounding Rules
107
6.47.
Use hyphens in a prepositional-phrase compound noun consisting of three or more words.
- cat-o'-nine-tails
- government-in-exile
- grant-in-aid
- jack-in-the-box
- man-of-war
- mother-in-law
- mother-of-pearl
- patent-in-fee
- but
- heir at law
- next of kin
- officer in charge
6.48.
When the corresponding noun form is printed as separate words, the verb form is always hyphenated.
- cold-shoulder
- blue-pencil
- cross-brace
6.49.
Print a hyphen in a compound formed of repetitive or conflicting terms and in a compound naming the same thing under two aspects.
- boogie-woogie
- comedy-ballet
- dead-alive
- devil-devil
- even-stephen
- farce-melodrama
- fiddle-faddle
- hanky-panky
- murder-suicide
- nitty-gritty
- pitter-patter
- razzle-dazzle
- walkie-talkie :nitwit
- willy-nilly
- young-old
- but
- bowwow
- dillydally
- hubbub
- riffraff
6.50.
Use a hyphen in a nonliteral compound expression containing an apostrophe in its first element.
- asses'-eyes
- ass's-foot
- bull's-eye
- cat's-paw
- crow's-nest
6.51.
Use a hyphen to join a single capital letter to a noun or a participle.
- H-bomb
- I-beam
- T-shaped
- U-boat
- C-chip
- C-section
- V-necked
- S-iron
- T-square
- X-ed out
- but
- x ray
- x raying
- S turns
6.52.
Print idiomatic phrases without hyphens.
- come by
- inasmuch as
- insofar as
- Monday week
- nowadays
