30 Words That Don’t Need a Hyphen
For some reason, writers and editors love those little hyphens. They’ll put them just about anywhere, but most often in words that don’t need ‘em. Here are 30 words found on Yahoo! that have been split up with one (or sometimes two) of those horizontal characters. Maybe at one time these words were hyphenated, but they aren’t any more.
backstabbing
breakup (noun)
breathtaking
comeback (noun)
counterintuitive
downright
hobnob
latchkey
mainstream
midweek
nevertheless
newfound
nighttime
nonetheless
nonstop
overdo
overexpose
overpriced
overrated
oversized
postpartum
preteen
rendezvous
roundup (noun)
secondhand
sidekick
sightseeing
sourpuss
straightforward
woebegone
June 10, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Hi, I’m a self-employed Aussie subeditor who used to work in a newsroom where I could turn to more experienced staff to ask their advice about my achilles heel: to hyphen or not to hyphen – compound adjectives vs the wordy title of an entity (ie a low-cost airline vs a courier truck fire, a relief teacher shortage). I never understood the crazy theory behind our use of “mental health nurses” but that was our style; we just loved those crazy nurses!!!!
I’ve been missing my former colleagues’ support but now your’ve just answered my latest dilemma so your site has come in very handy! Thanks!
PS I found a “whether or not” in one of your sections (I think it was the 30 words without hyphens!!!!)
June 10, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Hi, Bettina! Welcome to Terribly Write. I’m glad I could and hope you’ll come back often.