Skip to main content

punctuation - Using hyphenated words in technical writing?


I always get confused when using hyphenated words in my research papers. Is there any specific rule for using hyphenated words? For example, which one of the following is the correct usage of co scheduling? One has smallcase s, while the other one has uppercase s. Is it just simply a taste of the writer? Google shows both the words along with coscheduling.


Co-scheduling or Co-Scheduling


Moreover, wikipedia tells that:



Certain prefixes (co-, pre-, mid-, de-, non-, anti-, etc.) may or may not be hyphenated.



Could someone clarify this?



Answer



The problem here is that there is not one true answer. Google will display the various styles used, but there is not one correct one.


To determine the style that you should should use, do the following.


Look up the word in the standard dictionary you are supposed to use. (If there isn't a standard dictionary for your project, choose one). If the word is in the dictionary, use that spelling. If not, look up the hyphenation rules in the style manual you are supposed to use. (If there isn't a standard style manual for your project, choose one). Hyphenate the word according to those rules.


For questions of capitalization, you'll have to refer once again to the style manual. It should contain rules for capitalizing hyphenated words. But be aware, the capitalization rule for a hyphenated word in a title may differ from that at the beginning of a sentence.



Example


Let's use your word, "co scheduling", and the rules from the Penn State Editorial Style Manual.


The manual specifies "Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, current edition" for spelling and hyphenation. In that dictionary there is no entry for a word co that would properly modify scheduling, which means that "co scheduling" is incorrect. There are also no entries for either co-scheduling or coscheduling, so we can't follow the dictionary's spelling.


There are entries for the prefix co- and the word scheduling. So the word must be formed by merging these two. We need to use the style manual to determine how to do that. The section on hyphens states: "Words formed with the prefix co should be hyphenated." So if you follow Penn State's rules, the word should be co-scheduling.


The Penn State manual is silent on the rules for capitalizing hyphenated words and refers users to the Chicago Manual of Style in that case. That manual states: "Do not capitalize the second element if (a) it is a participle modifying the first element or (b) both elements constitute a single word." Because co- is a prefix, that means co-scheduling is a single word, and therefore the capitalized form is Co-scheduling.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A man has a garden measuring 84 meters by 56 meters. He divides it into the minimum number of square plots. What is the length of the square plots?

We wish to divide this man's garden into the minimum number of square plots possible. A square has all four sides with the same length.Our garden is a rectangle, so the answer is clearly not 1 square plot. If we choose the wrong length for our squares, we may end up with missing holes or we may not be able to fit our squares inside the garden. So we have 84 meters in one direction and 56 meters in the other direction. When we start dividing the garden in square plots, we are "filling" those lengths in their respective directions. At each direction, there must be an integer number of squares (otherwise, we get holes or we leave the garden), so that all the square plots fill up the garden nicely. Thus, our job here is to find the greatest common divisor of 84 and 56. For this, we prime factor both of them: `56 = 2*2*2*7` `84 = 2*2*3*7` We can see that the prime factors and multiplicities in common are `2*2*7 = 28` . This is the desired length of the square plots. If you wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

What warning does Chuchundra issue to Rikki?

Chuchundra, the sniveling, fearful muskrat who creeps around walls because he is too terrified to go into the center of a room, meets Rikki in the middle of the night. He insults Rikki by begging him not to kill him. He then insults him by suggesting that Nag might mistake Chuchundra for Rikki. He says, "Those who kill snakes get killed by snakes."  He issues this warning to Rikki not to help keep Rikki safe but as a way of explaining why Rikki's presence gives him, Chuchundra, more reason to fear.  Chuchundra starts to tell Rikki what Chua the rat told him--but breaks it off when he realizes he might be overheard by Nag. He says, "Nag is everywhere, Rikki-Tikki." Rikki threatens to bite Chuchundra to get him to talk. Even then, Chuchundra won't overtly reveal any information. But he does say, "Can't you hear, Rikki-Tikki?" This is enough of a clue for the clever mongoose. He listens carefully and can just make out the "faintest scratch-s...
Post a Comment
Read more