If you’ve ever watched a man eating lobster, a number of things
might have run through your mind — anything from “that looks
delicious” to “thank heavens they gave that guy a bib” to “they
should have given him a poncho.” But it probably never occurred
to you just how close you were to mortal danger — how just the
finest of fine lines was the only thing standing between you and
a homicidal monster. Hyphens can make a huge difference in your
meaning. But, truth be told, those situations are rare. Often
hyphens are optional. Yet they’re still difficult. The rules are
hard to decipher. Worse, no two editors hyphenate alike. So a
reader trying to learn by example can end up extremely confused.
Do you water ski or water-ski? Why might you see a hyphen in “a
well-paid worker” while there’s none in “a poorly paid worker”?
And how do you know whether you should write “officewide” or
“office-wide”? Many people figure there must be some simple
hyphenation rule that clears up all these mysteries. But if you
set out to l