Unpopular Punctuation: The Marks You Probably Avoid

Don’t be afraid.

When you write, you probably dive in and try your best with commas, apostrophes, and periods, all the while avoiding the less common punctuation marks out of fear. Reduce your uncertainty with this rundown of proper usage for unpopular punctuation marks.

Hyphens

With automatic hyphenation and justification built into word processing software, writers no longer need to know how to divide words at the ends of lines. Dictionaries and spell-checkers provide insight on words spelled with hyphens. However, hyphens are also used to join words that work together to describe a subject.

Some situations are clear examples of words working together as adjectives:

Our department runs like a well-oiled machine.

The 20-year-old dress code dictates that we wear matching uniforms.

My thin-skinned boss cringes every time the board president calls on him.

Grammar books say to use a hyphen in all cases where two words work together as adjectives. However, those stingy newspaper editors disagree, as is evident in the 2011 Associated Press Stylebook:

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.

The York Times Manual of Style and Usage says the same thing.

Some harmony occurs, with journalism stylebooks and grammar books agreeing on these rules:

• Hyphenate combinations using the word well as in the first example above: well-oiled.
• Omit the hyphen when the adjective follows the noun: a machine that is well oiled.
• Omit a hyphen when the first word ends in ly: the poorly oiled machine.

Some people follow this guideline: if the words before the noun can function on their own as a noun that’s normally not hyphenated, omit the hyphen. For example, in the phrase high school students, high school can also be a noun, so it doesn’t need to be hyphenated.

So, then, is the United States having a health-care debate? Or a health care debate?

It depends. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language says that the noun can be spelled health care or healthcare. If you use health care as the noun form, it specifies the hyphenated form as the adjective: health-care bill.

The Associated Press and New York Times specify that the expression is always two words as a noun and is not hyphenated as an adjective: health care bill.

Since hyphens are controversial, here’s the best plan of action when you encounter a hyphenation situation:

1. Consult a dictionary to see if the word combination is already addressed.
2. If not, consult a grammar handbook, the stylebook that is most appropriate for your field, or your company style manual.

Semicolons

Maybe you rarely use semicolons, which is fine because they are formal. But don’t avoid them out of uncertainty because the semicolon is one of the easiest forms of punctuation. There are only two places to use a semicolon. One is to make a complicated list clearer:

Serving on the new committee will be Ed Knight, chairman of Human Resources; Tamara Houston, assistant controller; and Norm McNair, Occupational Safety Committee chairperson.

The other place is between two complete sentences that are so closely linked that you don’t want a clear, definitive stop between them, the kind of stop a period creates. Instead, you want the reader to know that these ideas go together:

We must all work together to promote this new product; our future depends on it.

Colon

The colon is a social punctuation mark: its function is to introduce things.

And just like social customs, colon usage rules have gotten more casual over the years. It used to be that a colon was used only after a complete sentence.

Employees assigned to the Midwest Project are as follows:

Person A

Person B

Person C.

But these days, writers who want to introduce a bulleted or numbered list or separate block of information can use this format:

Employees assigned to the Midwest Project are:

Person A

Person B

Person C.

However, within a normal sentence, it’s still incorrect to use a colon after the verb to introduce a list that does not follow a complete sentence.

NOT: Employees assigned to the Midwest Project are: Person A, Person B, and Person C.

INSTEAD: Employees assigned to the Midwest Project are Person A, Person B, and Person C.

OR: Employees assigned to the Midwest Project are as follows: Person A, Person B, and Person C.

Colons can also be used to introduce examples as in the numerous sentences used to set up examples in this blog.

Colons have a few other technical uses, such as in ratios (a 2:1 return on investments) and time references (9:10 p.m.), but those common usages rarely cause problems.

Next time: Punctuation that’s too popular

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Annoying Apostrophes

Unfortunate fact: Grammar and style books don’t agree about apostrophe use. Even the simplest apostrophe rule is the subject of controversy:

Add an apostrophe and an s to show possession of singular nouns.

I followed up on the client’s request.

I stepped on the boss’s foot.

Some grammar books grant an exception if adding an apostrophe and an s to a name ending in s creates an awkward pronunciation:

Sophocles’ works were required reading in college.

Illinois’ current business climate will affect our decision.

To make it more confusing, the Associated Press style book contradicts what you were taught in school and says to add only the apostrophe to any proper name ending in s. However, this leads to awkward and unrealistic pronunciations:

I borrowed Agnes’ employee manual.

I studied Elvis’ life.

Our company will be affected by Congress’ latest bill.

So unless you’re writing for the Associated Press, use the apostrophe and the s if you would pronounce the extra s in a name.

The Associated Press also has an odd rule saying that even for singular common nouns ending in s, you should add only the apostrophe if the subsequent word begins in s:

I stepped on the boss’s foot.

I stepped on the boss’ stiletto heel.

The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage is more relaxed: unlike the AP manual, it says to use the apostrophe and s for proper names ending in s. However, it offers an exception for names ending in a sibilant sound that follows a vowel and another sibilant. Sounds complicated, but it refers to simple words like Kansas, Texas, and Moses.

Why should you care about the journalism rules if you’re not a journalist? The news stories you read each day in newspapers and magazines or on the Internet are edited according to these alternate punctuation rules, so they may have affected your apostrophe use. Also, maybe your workplace writing includes press releases. So knowing the purpose and audience for your piece of writing is important.

The apostrophe rules for plural nouns — nouns referring to more than one item – are largely undisputed:

Add only an apostrophe to plural words ending in s.

He was docked eight weeks’ pay.

The three agents’ sales for August totaled $8 million.

Add an apostrophe and an s to plural words not ending in s.

The publishing house is adding children’s books to its line.

It’s a real problem

The most common apostrophe problem arises around the word it. The word is a solid, everyday pronoun, so it seems natural to add an apostrophe and an s to make it possessive. “Wrong!” your English teacher screams. Don’t worry — you’re not stupid. It makes perfect sense to add an apostrophe and s just as you would to any other word. However, it’s wrong because its has been corralled into the group of possessive pronouns by a sadistic grammarian.

To understand this tricky word, it’s important to understand that the apostrophe is used to show possession in words that are not usually possessive. For example, a computer is a thing, so the word computer is a noun. But sometimes the word isn’t serving its normal function of being a noun: it is acting as a describing word showing possession:

My computer’s constant beeping drove my coworkers crazy.

In that sentence, beeping is the noun, and computer’s is a describing word. The apostrophe signals to the reader that the word is being used in a different way than expected.

But certain words exist in our language solely to show possession: his, hers, theirs, ours, its. So they don’t need an apostrophe because their usage isn’t changing.

Two easy ways to remember how to do it right:

1. If you write it’s, you mean it is. Always.
2. Picture its with other possessive pronouns: his, hers, theirs, ours. You wouldn’t write hi’s or her’s. So keep the apostrophe out of its as a possessive word, even if you think it’s stupid.

More controversy

Disagreement also arises about using an apostrophe for plurals of letters, numbers, abbreviations, and words used as words. Here’s a rundown:

MOST GRAMMAR BOOKS (not all agree)

Add an apostrophe and an s to show the plural of words used as words, letters used as letters, numbers used as numbers, and acronyms/abbreviations. But use only the s for plurals of decades:

The accountant accidentally added some extra 2‘s to the budget total.

Our company earned two B‘s and an A on its marketing scorecard.

You used too many and‘s at the beginning of your sentences in this report.

Mail out the DVD’s on our new product line immediately.

We haven’t updated the company logo since the 1990s.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Add an apostrophe and an s to show the plural of single letters used as letters. But use only the s to show plurals of numbers used as numbers, acronyms/abbreviations, words used as words and the plurals of decades:

The accountant accidentally added some extra 2s to the budget total.

Our company earned two B‘s and an A on its marketing scorecard.

You used too many ands at the beginning of your sentences in this report.

Mail out the DVDs on our new product line immediately.

We haven’t updated the company logo since the 1990s.

NEW YORK TIMES

Add an apostrophe and an s to show the plural of letters used as letters, numbers used as numbers, acronyms/abbreviations, and the plural of decades. But use only the s for words used as words:

The accountant accidentally added some extra 2‘s to the budget total.

Our company earned two B‘s and an A on its marketing scorecard.

You used too many ands at the beginning of your sentences in this report.

Mail out the DVD’s on our new product line immediately.

We haven’t updated the company logo since the 1990’s.

MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION (MLA style is used for academic writing in the humanities)

Add an apostrophe and an s to show the plural of letters used as letters. But use only the s for numbers used as numbers, acronyms/abbreviations, and the plural of decades. No specific rule is given for words used as words, but there’s a strong indication to omit the apostrophe:

The accountant accidentally added some extra 2s to the budget total.

Our company earned two B‘s and an A on its marketing scorecard.

You used too many ands at the beginning of your sentences in this report.

Mail out the DVDs on our new product line immediately.

We haven’t updated the company logo since the 1990s.

CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE (used in the publishing industry and certain academic applications)

Use an apostrophe and an s to form the plural of lowercase letters used as letters and abbreviations containing periods. Use only the s for capital letters used as letters, numbers used as numbers, and the plurals of decades. Also use only the s for words used as words, with possible exceptions for such examples that are awkward or in quotation marks:

The accountant accidentally added some extra 2s to the budget total.

Our company earned two Bs and an A on its marketing scorecard. (Exception: Mind your p’s and q’s.)

You used too many ands at the beginning of your sentences in this report.

Mail out the DVDs on our new product line immediately. (Exception: Even three Ph.D’s couldn’t solve the problem.)

We haven’t updated the company logo since the 1990s.

Confused? You should be. Each set of rules is slightly different. Find out the accepted style in your workplace.*

Next time: Quarrelsome Quotation Marks

Interesting related links

A fun blog that posts examples of misused apostrophes:

http://www.apostropheabuse.com/

An article about the struggle over its vs it’s:

http://www.newsweek.com/1995/11/05/its-academic-or-is-it.html

An article about how punctuation is being lost in the new age of texting:

http://www.newsweek.com/2008/08/01/the-death-of-english-lol.html

A story about how Arkansas struggled with apostrophe use with its name, proposing a bill that became law:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/02/27/arkansas_house_to_argue_over_apostrophes/

*Special note: Words used as words, numbers used as numbers, and letters used as letters are usually italicized but not in boldface. However, for purposes of drawing attention to words used as words in my blog, I have chosen to add the boldface.

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