Hyphens

Question

Is there a rule which protects against the overuse of hyphens? Is this correct: building-wide-water-shut-off OR building-wide water shut-off OR building water-shut-off? If all the words connected by hyphens refer to the same event is that sufficient? It seems that the hyphen could be the most economical/conscise punctuation for long descriptions.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Is there a rule which protects against the overuse of hyphens? Is this correct: building-wide-water-shut-off OR building-wide water shut-off OR ... the same event is that sufficient? It seems that the hyphen could be the most economical/conscise punctuation for long descriptions.[/nq]
I prefer your second option: building-wide water shut-off.

But, **** it anyway, I wish they would put separate shutoffs in each unit. (In my rowhouse, with 14 units, it is a shame to have to shut off the water to 13 units just to fix a toilet in one of them.)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Is there a rule which protects against the overuse of hyphens? Is this correct: building-wide-water-shut-off OR building-wide water shut-off OR ... the same event is that sufficient? It seems that the hyphen could be the most economical/conscise punctuation for long descriptions.[/nq]
Use hyphens when the individual words do not fit with the concept. In your example building-wide and shut-off are good examples. There are many different shut-offs for water, electricity, gas, etc. That is why a hyphen is not needed between water and shut-off.
Sometimes I use hyphens even when the spelling corrector indicates that a single connected word is OK. Shutoff is accepted, but buildingwide is called a misspelling, even though worldwide is accepted.
GFH

Hyphens

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