Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you don’t know something, so you just avoid it altogether? For instance, because I don’t know how to swim, I avoid parties on mega yachts. I can’t tell ...

Russ in New Jersey had a question about hyphens: In “northwestern California landmark” should “northwestern California” be hyphenated? “I’m not sure if it’s simply a matter of preference or if the ...

One of the regular features we do on Twitter is "Why we need hyphens": phrases that have different meanings depending on whether there's a hyphen. These usually occur when a noun has a compound ...

You know how grammar buffs can be a little, well, difficult to be around? Judgmental? Quick to correct? And you know how even when they’re being quiet you can almost hear the unspoken criticisms ...

Note: I wrote this addendum to The Gazette's stylebook several months ago. I wish it had never come to that. The truth is, I'm an ardent fan of the hyphen. Where critics see it as overly pedantic, I ...

To hyphenate, or not to hyphenate – that is the question. Well, it’s one of them, anyway. There’s a wide range of opinions on the use of the little hyphen and when or where you should (and shouldn’t) ...

Sign up for the daily CJR newsletter. The “rules” under which hyphens are used to connect multiple modifiers, like “well(-)known man,” are varied and ...