The feet of a couple in poking out from the duvet of the bottom of a bed, facing away from each other.

For the love of a hyphen

/in

Lots of people, it appears, are falling out of love with hyphens. And yet, the benefits of using hyphens are…well, plain 😊:

1.     They remove ambiguity, as a result of which
2.     They make writing quicker and easier to read.

Don’t believe me?

Then take a look at the examples below. They aren’t just your usual suspects—e.g. the high school girl (on drugs) as opposed to your regular high-school girl. That’s because in what follows the writer risks more than just a knowing laugh from their readers; they risk readers taking the opposite meaning of what they intended.

Little known author
— A widely celebrated author who is physically small (its literal meaning), as opposed to an unfamous one of unspecified height (little-known author).

Molecule bearing ions
— A molecule carrying ions (its literal meaning), as opposed to ions carrying molecules (molecule-bearing ions).

Pain inducing medicine
— A reason to take drugs (its literal meaning), as opposed to a reason not to (pain-inducing medicine).

Criminal law professor
— A corrupt or just really bad teacher (its literal meaning), as opposed to an educator in how to fight wrongdoing (criminal-law professor).

Extra marital sex
— A frequently physically intimate marriage (its literal meaning), as opposed to an unfaithful one (extra-marital sex).

“But my readers will know what I mean”

I hear you. And perhaps they will. But at the very least, you may cause them a moment of self-doubt, double-takes or head-scratching. And, crucially, how will you make it clear when it’s the non-hyphenated version you mean?

If you’ve come across other examples where not using hyphens produces the opposite meaning, I’d love to hear them. In the meantime, if your aim is to cultivate a frequently rewarding and faithful relationship with your readers 😉, think twice before ditching those hyphens.

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If you’d like some help on when and how to use hyphens, Craig Shrives’s Smashing Grammar gives some sound advice on compound adjectives.

Photo courtesy of Freepik.