QT 3 – Video Transcript and Bonus Info
Welcome to 2-Minute Tuesday and another QuickTakes with Cate. Today’s segment is titled the 100-Meter Hyphen—NOT! C’mon now, we all know it’s the 100-Meter DASH. So what’s up with that? Is the hyphen the same as a dash and a dash the same as a hyphen? A lot of folks think so.
But I’m here to tell you, NOT!
- The hyphen is a short mark with its own key on the keyboard. A dash is a longer mark and does NOT have its own key. So when do we use a hyphen, and when do we use a dash? A hyphen is used for compound words, such as “water-repellent” and “cross-examine.” A dictionary will tell you whether a compound word should be hyphenated (runner-up), joined as one word (newsletter), or left as two words (fruit fly). A hyphen is also used to connect two or more words in a compound adjective before a noun, such as “six-inch lizard” and “used-clothing store.” If the adjectives come after the noun, we don’t hyphenate them: “The lizard was six inches” and “The store sold used clothing.”
There are two kinds of dashes—the em-dash and the en-dash. To insert a dash, go to the “Symbols” chart in Word, where you will find both types as well as the keyboard shortcuts.
- An em-dash marks an interruption in a sentence and replaces the comma, the semicolon, the colon, or parentheses. It is called an em-dash because it has the same width as a capital M in typesetting.
- An en-dash is used to join pairs or groups of words to show a range or between numbers, for example, “the nature–nurture debate” and “1914–1918 war.” It is called an en-dash because it is half the width of a capital M.
Whew—that really was a 100-meter dash!
The rest of the story:
A compound adjective consists of two or more words (top-notch) that act as a single adjective before a noun (fly-by-night operation, first-rate show). If an adverb ending in -ly is joined to an adjective, do not hyphenate: slowly moving truck, rapidly running water. But “a slow-moving truck” would be hyphenated. Be sure to check a dictionary for other hyphenated words. How does Merriam-Webster treat these words?
- word processor
- empty handed
- flower pot
See answers below.
About the em-dash: If you have Word, you will need to go into the “Insert” tab, open “Symbols,” and go to “Special Characters.” There you’ll find the em-dash and the en-dash. You can also find shortcuts to inserting these marks in your document. A little research online will help you with programs other than Word, and if you’re really in a hurry, just copy and paste straight from the results of your Google search.
Bryan Garner calls the em-dash “perhaps the most underused punctuation mark in American writing.” We can often use dashes to clarify messy sentences containing elements joined with commas. Consider the confusion in this sentence:
“The basic needs of people, food, shelter, and clothing, are more expensive in San Francisco than in
my hometown.”
Where could we put the em-dashes to clarify the relation of the sentence elements? Look at the difference now:
“The basic needs of people—food, shelter, and clothing—are more expensive
in San Francisco than in my hometown.”
Notice that the em-dash has no spaces around it, running right into the words on either side. The same is true of the en-dash.
Now here are the answers to the question:
- “Word processor” is two words.
- “Empty-handed” is hyphenated.
- “Flowerpot” is one word.