posted
Would "multi–award-winning" have an en dash or a hyphen between "multi" and "award"? Based on my perusal of Chicago 5.117 I said hyphen, but I wanted some more opinions.
Thanks!
[ June 02, 2004, 05:35 PM: Message edited by: advice for robots ]
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
wouldn't an en dash and hyphen be the same? You definitely don't want an em dash - that's for between separate words.
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
My understanding is that the en dash is used to separate numerals and other non-word typographical elements.
Example: The play will run May 17endash35.
But you have a larger issue: multi-award-winning is completely silly.
Either stick to simply 'award-winning' (which often implies that more than one award has been won). Or use 'has won multiple awards.'
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Or maybe the problem is that you're still using Chicago 14. In 7.90, part 3, of Chicago 15, it says that before an open compound, an en dash is used. For example, they give "non-self-sustaining" and "pre–Vietnam War." Any reader with two brain cells can figure out that it's "not self-sustaining," not "sustaining the non-self." Similarly, no one will think that someone won a multi-award. Go with the hyphen. Or revise it to get rid of the multiple hyphens.
[ June 02, 2004, 05:02 PM: Message edited by: Jon Boy ]
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
"What would you use for the phrase "Grammar Geeks"?"
An underscore.
Zal, AJ, Jon, I agree that it's a clumsy formation. However, another writer asked me about it, so I'm not really able to rework it. I will suggest "multiple award-winning" to her (although is that even correct?).
Jon, you're right, I have the 14th edition. I haven't bothered to go get the 15th yet, although my manager has agreed to reimburse me for it.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
And look on the bright side: at least you're not using Chicago 13 and Merriam-Webster 9 (which is what I had last summer).
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
I do have M-W 10th edition. My biggest problem is that I'm stuck with MS Word 98, which runs on OS 9, and I'm on OS 10.3. Talk about clunky. I'd rather have Chicago 13th edition than have to deal with this every day.
[ June 02, 2004, 05:26 PM: Message edited by: advice for robots ]
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
It's actually much worse in that format. As written now, I -- a casual tech reader -- immediately assume that you've clumsily attempted to say that there are multiple firewalls integrated into the product.
Go back to multi-award-winning. Or, God forbid, just win ONE award. Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Hmm. I'm not so sure about "multiple award-winning." I think it might be more awkward and more likely to be misread than "multi-award-winning." And a quick Google search shows that people are about four times more likely to use "multi-award-winning" than "multiple award-winning."
So yeah, I think you should go back to "multi."
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
Jon, it looks like the little ones are a special character, while the large bullets are created using the "list" function.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[The Wave]](graemlins/thewave.gif)
