cintinative Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 (edited) Mass chaos or new order? Your thoughts? https://thebiglead.com/2019/08/28/ap-stylebook-hyphen-change-guidance/ "AP Stylebook Changes Hyphen Guidance, Ushering In Total Chaos" ETA: comment from the AP on FB: "From our hyphen entry: Use of the hyphen is far from standardized. It is optional in most cases, a matter of taste, judgment and style sense. But the fewer hyphens the better; use them only when not using them causes confusion (loose-knit group, but tax code changes). Think of hyphens as an aid to readers’ comprehension. If a hyphen makes the meaning clearer, use it. If it just adds clutter and distraction to the sentence, don’t use it." Edited September 9, 2019 by cintinative 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 The purpose of the hyphen is to remove ambiguity. In the situations referred to by the style guide " if the modifier is “commonly recognized as one phrase, and if the meaning is clean and unambiguous without the hyphen.” the hyphen is superfluous. In situations where the meaning would be ambiguous without a hyphen, the hyphen is still required. I see no reason to be upset about this. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted September 9, 2019 Author Share Posted September 9, 2019 (edited) I don't have any personal stake in this, but you would be surprised to see the comments on FB and Twitter. Some people are seriously upset. P.S. Some of the comments are hilarious. Edited September 9, 2019 by cintinative Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 I was a copy editor for my college newspaper. I feel like the commas are important and should stay. The truth? Most people won't even notice. 😞 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 Seems like it’s about time. But I love how language evolves and I’m not afraid of change. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 I think the way grammar and language changes is kind of fascinating, and I don't mind at all that they do change. But I'm old and stuck in my ways, so I suspect I will continue to hyphenate out of habit. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 I don’t see them as all that necessary. Are you really going to confuse “mother-in-law” vs “mother in law”? I can see the argument for them, but they’ve been headed out. Commas are so much more necessary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 Yeah, well, I had already written AP off when they got rid of the Oxford comma. 8 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 (edited) Oh, goodie. Maybe The New Yorker will follow suit and stop writing teen-ager and using diaereses all over the place. Edit: But - and I am sure the AP won't make this mistake, though agencies always do! - diacritic marks in proper names are not optional! Jean-Luc is not Jeanluc or JeanLuc or Jean Luc. All databases should update to allow hyphens etc in names. Edited September 9, 2019 by Tanaqui 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 3 minutes ago, Tanaqui said: Oh, goodie. Maybe The New Yorker will follow suit and stop writing teen-ager and using diaereses all over the place. I so agree. Made me think of this: https://www.arrantpedantry.com/2019/09/03/the-style-guide-alignment-chart/ 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 34 minutes ago, WendyAndMilo said: Definitely total-chaos. Or definitely-total chaos. 😉 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 They'd better not come for the em dash. That's a whole other issue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 I'm pretty certain I overuse all manner of fun, grammatical markings. I can't help myself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 From the article: "But hyphenating words when they need to be hyphenated is a habit that will be impossible for journalists of a certain age to stop doing." Yes, indeed. I am of that age. It's probably time I chuck my AP stylebook from my college days. I'm guessing it's dated 1982 or something like that. It was a required text for many of my journalism classes. I love it so. ❤️ I don't think I can get rid of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 20 minutes ago, Serenade said: From the article: "But hyphenating words when they need to be hyphenated is a habit that will be impossible for journalists of a certain age to stop doing." Yes, indeed. I am of that age. It's probably time I chuck my AP stylebook from my college days. I'm guessing it's dated 1982 or something like that. It was a required text for many of my journalism classes. I love it so. ❤️ I don't think I can get rid of it. I loved my AP Stylebook, too. I *think* I got rid of it a while ago, but it might still be lurking in a box somewhere. I was the newspaper office Fount of Information before google existed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 I think the journalists who use the AP stylebook have bigger problems than hyphens. Just this week I saw a headline about a new Barbie doll on store selves; I also saw a headline about the Northern Lights dancing over Antarctica. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted September 10, 2019 Author Share Posted September 10, 2019 43 minutes ago, Junie said: I think the journalists who use the AP stylebook have bigger problems than hyphens. Just this week I saw a headline about a new Barbie doll on store selves; I also saw a headline about the Northern Lights dancing over Antarctica. One of the twitter comments is that next year all the news reporting will be done via emojis. LOL. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 (edited) 21 hours ago, Farrar said: They'd better not come for the em dash. That's a whole other issue. I love the em dash--I probably wear it out with overuse.... That and ellipses 😄 Edited September 10, 2019 by maize 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 (edited) I have doubts about equating changes in language to changes in the AP style-book. They aren't the English language equivalent of the Academie francaise. They are just a bunch of people with an opinion. Edited September 10, 2019 by Bluegoat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 I mean, so's the Academie. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 5 hours ago, Tanaqui said: I mean, so's the Academie. Yes, but at least they have some claim to public authority, the AP style-guide really has a pretty limited purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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