long held or long-held?

[Melissa]

Here's another hyphen question: hypenated long-held?

Federal oversight would replace the long-held, voluntary, and highly
autonomous peer accreditation process...

I'm leaning toward the hyphen...

[James Hogg]

On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:49:33 -0800 (PST), Melissa

Post by Melissa
Here's another hyphen question: hypenated long-held?
Federal oversight would replace the long-held, voluntary, and highly
autonomous peer accreditation process...
I'm leaning toward the hyphen...

Keep leaning.

You should also have a hyphen in peer-accreditation process.

What do people here say about the word "oversight"? For me it
means chiefly negligence or accidental omission. I use
"supervision" when I mean what is called "oversight" above.

James
(BrE with a distinctly septentrional flavour)

[Melissa]

Post by James Hogg
On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:49:33 -0800 (PST), Melissa

Post by Melissa
Here's another hyphen question: hypenated long-held?
Federal oversight would replace the long-held, voluntary, and highly
autonomous peer accreditation process...
I'm leaning toward the hyphen...

Keep leaning.
You should also have a hyphen in peer-accreditation process.
What do people here say about the word "oversight"? For me it
means chiefly negligence or accidental omission. I use
"supervision" when I mean what is called "oversight" above.
James
(BrE with a distinctly septentrional flavour)

Thanks for the catch with peer-accreditation! I think I will omit the
first hyphen per suggestion below (since meaning is unambiguous), but
I agree with the definition of oversight that you've given. However,
I'm instructed to go with Webster's 11th first meaning--which is
"watchful and responsible care," but I think it's interesting that the
second def. is "an inadvertent omission or error." Nice observation!

[Adrian Bailey]

Post by James Hogg
On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:49:33 -0800 (PST), Melissa

Post by Melissa
Here's another hyphen question: hypenated long-held?
Federal oversight would replace the long-held, voluntary, and highly
autonomous peer accreditation process...
I'm leaning toward the hyphen...

Keep leaning.
You should also have a hyphen in peer-accreditation process.
What do people here say about the word "oversight"? For me it
means chiefly negligence or accidental omission. I use
"supervision" when I mean what is called "oversight" above.
James
(BrE with a distinctly septentrional flavour)
Thanks for the catch with peer-accreditation! I think I will omit the

first hyphen per suggestion below (since meaning is unambiguous), but
I agree with the definition of oversight that you've given. However,
I'm instructed to go with Webster's 11th first meaning--which is
"watchful and responsible care," but I think it's interesting that the
second def. is "an inadvertent omission or error." Nice observation!

I don't think it matters whether there is any ambiguity; "long-held" should
be hyphenated. Them's the rules.

Adrian

[Melissa]

Post by Melissa

Post by James Hogg
On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:49:33 -0800 (PST), Melissa

Post by Melissa
Here's another hyphen question: hypenated long-held?
Federal oversight would replace the long-held, voluntary, and highly
autonomous peer accreditation process...
I'm leaning toward the hyphen...

Keep leaning.
You should also have a hyphen in peer-accreditation process.
What do people here say about the word "oversight"? For me it
means chiefly negligence or accidental omission. I use
"supervision" when I mean what is called "oversight" above.
James
(BrE with a distinctly septentrional flavour)
Thanks for the catch with peer-accreditation! I think I will omit the

first hyphen per suggestion below (since meaning is unambiguous), but
I agree with the definition of oversight that you've given. However,
I'm instructed to go with Webster's 11th first meaning--which is
"watchful and responsible care," but I think it's interesting that the
second def. is "an inadvertent omission or error." Nice observation!
I don't think it matters whether there is any ambiguity; "long-held" should
be hyphenated. Them's the rules.
Adrian- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Ok...what do you all think about "in and outside the gates"? Should
"in" have a hyphen after it? Should it be "inside" instead? Can I
leave it as is?

[Mike Lyle]

Melissa wrote:
[...]

Post by Melissa
Ok...what do you all think about "in and outside the gates"? Should
"in" have a hyphen after it? Should it be "inside" instead? Can I
leave it as is?

"...inside and outside..." is best. You can't leave it as it is, and I
think the hyphen version would seem contrived.

[James Silverton]

Post by Adrian Bailey
I don't think it matters whether there is any ambiguity; "long-held"
should be hyphenated. Them's the rules.

Spoken like a school-marm.

[Chuck Riggs]

On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:28:02 -0500, "James Silverton"

Post by James Silverton

Post by Adrian Bailey
I don't think it matters whether there is any ambiguity; "long-held"
should be hyphenated. Them's the rules.

Spoken like a school-marm.

In my school, Miss Thistlebottom taught us to spell her title without
the hyphen.

[Mark Brader]

Post by James Hogg
What do people here say about the word "oversight"?

It's a contronym. It's the noun for both "oversee" and "overlook".

[Leslie Danks]

Post by Mark Brader

Post by James Hogg
What do people here say about the word "oversight"?

It's a contronym. It's the noun for both "oversee" and "overlook".

"Oversight" is sometimes seen as a mistranslation of the German "Übersicht",
which actually means "overview" (among other possible translations).

[Peter Duncanson (BrE)]

Post by Mark Brader

Post by James Hogg
What do people here say about the word "oversight"?

It's a contronym. It's the noun for both "oversee" and "overlook".

The verb "overlook" is itself a contronym.

OED:

1. trans.
a. To look upon from above; to survey; to view openly. Freq. in
pass. Also fig.
b. Of a place, etc.: to afford or command a view of.
....
3. trans. To look (a thing) over or through; to examine, scrutinize,
inspect; to peruse, read through.
4. trans.
a. To fail to see or observe; to pass over without noticing; to
leave out of consideration, disregard, ignore.
....
5. trans. To watch over officially, look after, oversee.

[James Silverton]

Post by Melissa
Here's another hyphen question: hypenated long-held?
Federal oversight would replace the long-held, voluntary, and
highly autonomous peer accreditation process...
I'm leaning toward the hyphen...

Where the adjectival meaning is unambiguous, I favor omitting the
hyphen. I also don't particularly like more than two hyphenated words
but that's not being asked here, I admit.

[Robert Lieblich]

Post by James Silverton

Post by Melissa
Here's another hyphen question: hypenated long-held?
Federal oversight would replace the long-held, voluntary, and
highly autonomous peer accreditation process...
I'm leaning toward the hyphen...

Where the adjectival meaning is unambiguous, I favor omitting the
hyphen. I also don't particularly like more than two hyphenated words
but that's not being asked here, I admit.

To which I'd like to add, if anyone is still here (and, I guess, even
if no one is), that the comma following "held" makes it quite clear
that "long" cannot modify anything other than "held." I don't think
it's asking too much for a reader to be able to see five characters
ahead.

[Chuck Riggs]

On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:54:43 -0500, Robert Lieblich

Post by Robert Lieblich

Post by James Silverton

Post by Melissa
Here's another hyphen question: hypenated long-held?
Federal oversight would replace the long-held, voluntary, and
highly autonomous peer accreditation process...
I'm leaning toward the hyphen...

Where the adjectival meaning is unambiguous, I favor omitting the
hyphen. I also don't particularly like more than two hyphenated words
but that's not being asked here, I admit.

To which I'd like to add, if anyone is still here (and, I guess, even
if no one is), that the comma following "held" makes it quite clear
that "long" cannot modify anything other than "held." I don't think
it's asking too much for a reader to be able to see five characters
ahead.

Since this thread is becoming too much for this reader, I'm no longer
still here.

[Rambler III]

Post by Melissa
Here's another hyphen question: hypenated long-held?
Federal oversight would replace the long-held, voluntary, and highly
autonomous peer accreditation process...
I'm leaning toward the hyphen...

Forming compound adjectives
When two or more words serve together as a single modifier before a noun, a
hyphen or hyphens form the modifying words clearly into a unit.

"She is a well-know actor."
"The conclusions are based on out-of-date statistics."

When the same compound adjectives follow the noun, hyphens are unnecessary
and usually left out.

"The actor is well know."
"The statistics were out of date."

Hyphens are also unnecessary in compound modifiers containing a. _-ly_
adverb when these fall before the noun: _clearly defined terms; _swiftly
moving train_.

The Little, Brown Handbook