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Subject:Re: hyphens in multiple-word mo From:"Katherine D. Fisher" <kdfisher -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 27 Sep 1996 16:22:43 -0700
Karen Lew wrote:
> The sentence in question read something like this: " . . .[whatever] is
> department owned and operated . . ."
> As the technical editor, I inserted hyphens as follows: " . . .[whatever] is
> department-owned and -operated . . . " using the grammatical logic of a
> temporary compound used as an adjective.
> The author (and our mutual boss) kept removing the hyphen before *operated*. I
> finally just gave up.
> Yes, I realize it would have been much better to merely rewrite the sentence:
> " . . . [whatever], owned and operated by the department, . . ." but that was
> not an option at the time.
> I can't find this *specific situation* in Chicago Manual of Style, beyond
> what's said in 6.31 (and don't have Bernstein of anyone else at hand at the
> moment). Anyone have any thoughts on this? (silly question, of course).
> Thanks,
> Karen L. Lew
> Sr. Technical Writer/Editor
> Environmental Protection Department
> Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Karen,
Forget that Chicago Style Manual. Here's the rule: if the noun that the
adjectives are modifying precedes
