There are evil forces at work trying to remove the hyphen from our writing, but some of us are putting up brave and solid resistance. Here is a brief clip from an article in the FT Innovative Lawyers series. Look at how the hyphens shine:
Its traditional aversion to risk has meant the legal profession has not been in the vanguard of new technology. But it is seen as ripe for disruption — a view that is based not least on pressure from tech-savvy corporate clients questioning the size of their legal bills and wanting to reduce risk.
As more law firms become familiar with terms such as machine learning and data mining, they are creating tech-focussed jobs like “head of research and development” or hiring coders or artificial intelligence (AI) experts.
Change is being driven not only by demand from clients but also by competition from accounting firms, which have begun to offer legal services and to use technology to do routine work. “Lawtech” start-ups, often set up by ex-lawyers and so-called because they use technology to streamline or automate routine aspects of legal work, are a threat too….
Hyphens are a godsend for giving depth and texture to the noun they accompany. A “so-called expert in the field” is not only an individual that other people are calling an expert, but one whose skills and knowledge in the area the writer might dispute. Thus “so-called” can carry a degree of irony that gives your writing a nice touch. It can, as here, simply mean “what people are calling something”, however.
The report mentions tech-focussed jobs, which saves him or her from writing an entire phrase or sub-clause to explain what kind of jobs we are describing, i.e. jobs that are predominantly focussed on technology.
So, in this way, a Lisbon-based law firm is a law firm that has its headquarters in Lisbon and a ten-strong corporate team is not only telling us how many people make up the Corporate department, but also that they’re very good professionals.
So, do not remain tight-lipped about the hyphen. Tell all like-minded people to use it and to enjoy it. It will help your written English avoid being long-winded and instead will give it a well-balanced and well-organised feel.
It will also, if used properly, avoid the risk of being totally misunderstood. For example, “father to be stabbed in bar” would appear to be a newspaper headline of weird and worrying prescience. How does the writer know that is going to happen? In fact, with the aid of hyphens, a different story emerges from the rubble: “father-to-be stabbed in bar”, means that the unfortunate victim was about to become a father.
Likewise, “twenty four-hour shifts at the factory” are different to “twenty-four hour shifts at the factory” and different again from “twenty-four-hour shifts at the factory”. Who is working the longest hours? I will leave you to decide!