Russ in New Jersey had a question about hyphens: In “northwestern California landmark” should “northwestern California” be hyphenated? “I’m not sure if it’s simply a matter of preference or if the ...

Back when the somewhat irritating animated TV show Beavis and Butt-Head was popular, I can recall a copy editor in the newsroom uttering the memorable query, "Does Butt-Head have a hyphen?" It's no ...

In our society, we entrust certain individuals with immense power based, in large part, on our sincere hope that they'll act as unifiers, not dividers. It's a tall order. Sure, it's easy to bring ...

When dealing with compound modifiers, heed this advice from The Associated Press Stylebook: "Do not use a hyphen between adverbs ending in '-ly' and adjectives they modify." For example, no hyphens ...

A reader has complained that writers ”are now sprinkling hyphens like pepper over salad, but unlike the pepper, they are deadening instead of stimulating.” The examples he cited were compound ...

Don’t read this column. Really. It’s not like the other articles out there that impart knowledge. Instead, this one could leave you feeling like you know less than you did before you started reading.

Antiepileptic, microorganism or antiarrhythmic do not have a hyphen. Also use hyphens for compound adjectives if it makes them clearer ('a cost-effective treatment' but 'the treatment was cost ...

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Last week was full of interesting news stories. The riddle of the dead body of a 29-year-old man that dropped from the undercarriage of a KQ plane preparing to land at London’s Heathrow Airport in ...