More on Hyphens

I kid you not.

Same handout, different problem. I was talking about how with certain prefixes, we add a hyphen to avoid aberrations in the appearance of the word. I used the example "un-American."  Without the hyphen, we have a capital letter mid-word—"the horror of it all!" I said, "This should never happen in English." I said this dramatically, extemporaneously, as I often do in order to wake people up. I mean, it's not like science class where one might get away with threatening immediate danger to life and limb if students do not follow instructions. Honestly, petty annoyance resulting in the loss of a point for proper mechanics is my highest threat. Still, I feel they ought to know... But I should have given my dramatic "never" some extra thought. David took no time at all to respond, "You mean, like 'McKalips'?" Burn. I feebly tried to say that it was Irish, and therefore not applicable.

Hyphens

I thought I should explain how to use hyphens in my writing class. I pulled out my handy copy of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynne Truss for some catchy example:

"extra-marital sex
extra marital sex"

I had made a brief overhead for the purpose, and revealed this example first, as an attention-getter, and a way to make my main point. Of course they laughed, as I had hoped. I prepared to dig into hyphens: "You guys may laugh," I say, "but I see this every day! [pause] No, well, I mean, I, I see the lack of hyphen..."

By then, no one could hear me for the giggles. Class was five minutes from being over. But class was over.