Style Sheet

Elizabeth Kolbert

“Big Score”

The New Yorker

March 2014

Prepared for Diane Galbo

Prepared by Pauline Boiser, 18 March 2014

Example KeyEach example in this guide is followed by a set of numbers enclosed in parentheses. These numbers correspond to the page, column, and paragraph where the example is located.

Post-its (38.1.1)

The example Post-its can be found on page 38, in the first column’s first paragraph.

References

The Chicago Manual of Style. Sixteenth Edition.

The rules provided in this style sheet were found in the sixteenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Eleventh Edition.

The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary was consulted regarding compounds, pronunciation, and spelling.

ii

AbbreviationsAcronyms, Initialisms, Contractions 1

Names and TermsAcademic Subjects, Courses of Study, and Lecture Series 1Brand Names and Trademarks 1Days of the Week, Months, and Seasons 2Institutions and Companies 2Military Terms 2Associations 3Signs and Mottoes 3Parts of the World 3 Personal Names 4Religious Names and Terms 4Titles of Works 5

NumbersGeneral Principles 5Large Numbers 7Dates 7

PunctuationColons 8Commas 9Semicolons 14Hyphens and Dashes 14Parentheses 15Question Marks 16Exclamation Points 17

Quotations and DialoguesQuotations in Relation to Text 17Quotation Marks Omitted 18

Spelling, Distinctive Treatment of Words, and Compounds

Compounds and Hyphenation 18Emphasis 20Word Division 20

iii

InconsistenciesPeriods with abbreviations 21Word Divisions 22Compound/Hyphen Usage 22

iv

AbbreviationsAcronyms, Initialisms, contractions – The word acronym refers to terms based on the initial letters of their various elements and read as single words (AIDS, laser, NASA, scuba); initialism refers to terms read as a series of letters (AOL, NBA, XML).

SAT (38.1.1)

M.I.T. (41.2.2)

Names and TermsAcademic Subjects, Courses of Study, and Lecture Series

Academic subjects - Academic subjects are not capitalized unless they form part of a department name or an official course name or are themselves proper nouns (e.g. English, Latin).

chemistry (38.1.1)

math (39.1.3)

reading (39.1.3)

English (40.2.1)

Brand Names and Trademarks

Brand names that are trademarks—often so indicated in dictionaries—should be capitalized if they must be used.

Post-its (38.1.1)

Skype (39.3.3)

Days of the Week, Months, and Seasons

Names of days and months are capitalized.

Saturday (38.1.1)

Institutions and Companies

The full names of institutions, groups, and companies and the names of their departments, and often the shortened forms of such names (e.g., the Art Institute), are capitalized. A the preceding a name, even when part of the official title, is lowercased in running text. Such generic terms as company and university are usually lowercased when used alone (though they are routinely capitalized in promotional materials, business documents, and the like).

Barnes & Noble (39.3.2)

Harvard (39.2.2)

Yale (39.2.2)

Institute for Advanced Study (40.3.3)

Advantage Testing (40.3.3)

Stanford (40.3.3)

the University of Pennsylvania (40.3.3)

Claremont McKenna College (41.2.4)

Military Terms

Armies, battalions, and such – Titles of armies, navies, air forces, fleets, regiments, battalions, companies, corps, and so forth are capitalized.

the United States Army (40.1.4)

2

Wars and revolutions – Names of most major wars and revolutions are capitalized.

the First World War (40.1.4)

Associations

Associations, unions, and the like – The full names of associations, societies, unions, meetings, and conferences, and often the shortened forms of such names, are capitalized. A the preceding a name, even when part of the official title, is lowercased in running text. Such generic terms as society and union are usually lowercased when used alone.

College Board (40.3.1)

Signs and Mottoes

Mottoes may be treated the same way as signs. If the wording is in another language, it is usually italicized and only the first word capitalized.

“If you aim for nowhere, that’s just where you’ll go,” one poster observed. (38.1.2)

“Some days you’re the pigeon,” another, written in runny, guano-colored letters said. (38.1.3)

“Some days you’re the statue.” (38.2.3)

Parts of the World

Continents, Countries, Cities, Oceans, and Such - Entities that appear on maps are always capitalized, as are adjectives and nouns derived from them.

New York City (39.3.2)

Seattle (39.3.2)

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Brooklyn (40.3.1)

Los Angeles (40.3.1)

Miami (40.3.1)

Regions of the world and national regions - Terms that denote regions of the world or of a particular country are often capitalized, as are a few of the adjectives and nouns derived from such terms.

Midwest (40.2.2)

Personal Names

Capitalization of personal names - Names and initials of persons, real or fictitious, are capitalized. A space should be used between any initials, except when initials are used alone.

Debbie Stier (38.2.1)

Robert Oppenheimer (39.1.3)

Haruki Murakami (39.1.4)

Walter Lippman (40.1.4)

Carl Campbell Brigham (40.1.4)

James Bryant Conant (40.2.2)

Religious Names and Terms

Alternative names – Alternative or descriptive names for God as supreme being are capitalized.

the Lord (40.3.1)

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Prophets and the like – Designations of prophets, apostles, saints, and other revered persons are often capitalized.

Moses (40.3.1)

Titles of Works

Treatment of book and periodical titles – When mentioned in text, notes, or bibliography, the titles and subtitles of books and periodicals are italicized and capitalized headline-style, though some publications may require sentence style for reference lists. A book title cited in full in the notes or bibliography may be shortened in text.

*The New Yorker’s house style places quotation marks around book titles, rather than italicizing them like CMOS calls for.

“The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT” (38.2.1)

“The New Math SAT Game Plan” (39.3.3)

“Outsmarting the SAT” (39.3.3)

“The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar” (39.3.3)

“The Big Test” (40.2.2)

NumbersGeneral Principles

Chicago’s general rule—zero through one hundred – In nontechnical contexts, Chicago advises spelling out whole number from zero through

one hundred and certain round multiples of those numbers. Most of the rest of the chapter deals with the exception to this rule and special

cases. For hyphens used with spelled-out numbers, see 7.85, section 1. For some additional considerations, consult the index, under numbers.

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For numerals in direct discourse, see 13.43. For an alternative rule, see 9.3.

twenty (38.1.1)

twenty-five (38.2.1)

forty-six (38.2.1)

410 (39.3.1)

680 (41.1.2)

740 (41.1.1)

Hundreds, thousands, and hundred thousands – Any of the whole numbers mentioned in 9.2 (see Chicago’s general rule—zero through one hundred above) followed by hundred, thousand, or hundred thousand are usually spelled out (except in the sciences) — whether used exactly or as approximations. See also 9.8.

five hundred (40.3.2)

seven hundred and ninety-five (41.1.1)

Ordinals – The general rule applies to ordinal as well as cardinal numbers. Note that Chicago prefers, for example, 122nd and 123rd (with an n and an r) over 122d and 123d. The latter, however, are common especially in legal style. The letters in ordinal numbers should not appear as superscripts (e.g. 122nd not 122nd)

fifth (39.1.4)

sixth (39.1.4)

second (39.1.4)

tenth (39.2.1)

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third (39.3.4)

Consistency and flexibility - Where many numbers occur within a paragraph or a series of paragraphs, maintain consistency in the immediate context. If according to rule you must use numerals for one of the numbers in a given category, use them for all in that category. In the same sentence, or paragraph, however, items in one category may be given as numerals and items in another spelled out.

Out of more than half a million students who now take the SATs each year, fewer than five hundred will earn a “perfect”

score. (40.3.2)

Large Numbers

Millions, billions, and so forth- Whole numbers used in combination with million, billion, and so forth usually follow the general rule.

two million (40.1.4)

Dates

The year alone – Years are expressed in numerals unless they stand at the beginning of a sentence, in which case rewording may be a better option.

1982 (39.2.4)

2005 (39.2.4)

1933 (40.2.2)

1999 (40.2.2)

Month and day – When specific dates are expressed, cardinal numbers are used, although these may be pronounced as ordinals.

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The SATs were administered for the first time on June 23, 1926. (40.1.4)

Decades – Decades are either spelled out (as long as the century is clear) and lowercased or expressed in numerals. Chicago calls for no apostrophes to appear between the year and the s.

the nineteen-seventies (40.3.1)

PunctuationColons

Use of the colon – A colon introduces an element or a series of elements illustrating or amplifying what has preceded the colon. Between independent clauses it functions much like a semicolon, and in some cases either mark may work as well as the other; use a colon sparingly, however, and only to emphasize that the second clause illustrates or amplifies the first. (The colon should generally convey the sense of “as follows.”) The colon may sometimes be used instead of a period to introduce a series of related sentences.

My hopes were modest: I was looking to avoid humiliation. (39.1.1)

There was just one hitch: Ethan wasn’t interested in studying for the SAT. (39.2.3)

Before embarking on her quest, Stier’s only experience with the SAT was the sort that most students have, or at least had:

she’d taken the exam just once, in 1982, when she was in high school. (39.2.4)

It’s now a billion-dollar industry whose primary product is heartache: college admission is, after all, a zero-sum game.

(40.3.3)

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Colons with “as follows” and other introductory phrases – A colon is normally used after as follows, the following, and similar expressions.

She buys a Barnes & Noble’s worth of review books: “Dr. John Chung’s SAT Math,” “A-Plus Notes for Beginning

Algebra,” “The New Math SAT Game Plan,” “Kaplan SAT 2400,” “Kaplan SAT Strategies for Super Busy Students,” “Kaplan SAT Strategies, Practice & Review,” “Outsmarting the SAT,” “The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar,” “PWN the SAT: Math Guide,” and the College Board’s “Official SAT Study Guide,” which is known as “The Blue Book.” (39.3.3)

Colons to introduce speech or quotations – A colon is often used to introduce speech in dialogue.

A colon may also be used instead of a comma to introduce a quotation, either where the syntax of the introduction requires it or to more formally introduce the quotation.

Then I realized that everyone else was already scribbling away, so I ditched that idea and went with the obvious: “No pain, no gain.” (39.1.3)

So Stier thought she would model the behavior she was hoping to inspire: “I thought maybe I could motivate Ethan to care

about the SAT, just a little, if I climbed into the trenches myself.” (39.2.3)

Commas

Commas in pairs – Whenever a comma is used to set off an element, a second comma is required if the phrase or sentence continues beyond the element being set off. This principle applies to many of the uses for commas described in this section. An exception is made for commas within the title of a work.

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Stier, a divorced mother of two who lives in Irvington, New York, decided to take up the SATs for the same reason we all do

foolish things: out of love. (39.2.2)

Her oldest child, Ethan, a B student with modest athletic abilities (yet several minor concussions), was a sophomore in high

school. (39.2.2)

Serial commas - Items in a series are normally separated by commas. When a conjunction joins the last two elements in a series of three or more, a comma—known as the serial or series comma or the Oxford comma—should appear before the conjunction. Chicago strongly recommends this widely practiced usage, blessed by Fowler and other authorities, since it prevents ambiguity. If the last element consists of a pair joined by and, the pair should still be preceded by a serial comma and the first and.

Rather, he wrote, scores were an index of a person’s schooling, family background, familiarity with English, and

everything else. (40.2.1)

Not long after Harvard started using the SAT, Princeton, Columbia, and Yale followed suit. (40.2.2)

In the nineteen-seventies, Kaplan expanded his operations into cities like Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami.

(40.3.1)

Restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses — “which” versus “that” – A relative clause is said to be restrictive if it provides information that is essential to the meaning of the sentence. Restrictive clauses are usually introduced by that (or who/whom/whose) and are never set off by commas from the rest of the sentence. The pronoun that may occasionally be omitted (but need not be) if the sentence is just as clear without it.

That Ethan might try to follow a similar trajectory is precisely what has her concerned. (39.3.1)

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What might be called the Institute for Advanced Study of tutoring services is a Manhattan-based operation called Advantage

Testing. (40.3.4)

She comes to feel so at home there that when other students arrive for their sessions she buzzes them in. (41.1.1)

A relative clause is said to be nonrestrictive if it could be omitted without obscuring the identity of the noun to which it refers or otherwise changing the meaning of the rest of the sentence. Nonrestrictive relative clauses are usually introduced by which (or who/whom/whose) and are set off from the rest of the sentence by commas.

After issuing a series of warnings, which she read word for word from a script, she told us that we’d have twenty-five

minutes to complete the first section of the exam—the essay question. (38.2.1)

The SATs inventor, a Princeton professor named Carl Campbell Brigham, had worked on the Army’s I.Q. test, and the

civilian exam he came up with was a first cousin to the military’s. (40.1.4)

This made it difficult to assess the claim made by the College Board, the exam’s administrator, that studying for the

SATs would serve no purpose. (40.3.1)

Commas with restrictive and nonrestrictive appositives – A word, abbreviation, phrase, or clause that is in apposition to a noun (i.e., provides an explanatory equivalent) is normally set off by commas if it is nonrestrictive — that is, if it can be omitted without obscuring the identity of the noun to which it refers.

The proctor, who herself seemed oddly nervous, handed around the tests and the answer booklets. (38.2.1)

The three-part test, with a top score of 2400, was introduced in 2005. (39.2.4)

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In 1933, James Bryant Conant, a chemist, became the president of Harvard. (40.2.2)

Commas with parenthetical elements – If only a slight break is intended, commas should be used to set off a parenthetical element inserted into a sentence as an explanation or comment. If a stronger break is needed or if there are commas within the parenthetical element, em dashes or parentheses should be used.

We must have been given different tests, because, whenever I was trying to read, she was clicking away loudly on her

calculator. (39.1.4)

Stier, in her words, was “beginning to feel frantic.” (39.2.2)

Stier, in turn, is enraged by their behavior. (39.3.5)

At last, Alagappan relents, and Stier spends the last two weeks of her project camped out in Advantage’s office. (41.1.1)

Commas with “however,” “therefore,” “indeed,” and so forth – Commas — sometimes paired with semicolons—are traditionally used to set off adverbs such as however, therefore, and indeed. When the adverb is essential to the meaning of the clause, or if no pause is intended or desired, commas are not needed.

Advantage, however, will not assign her a tutor on such short notice. (41.1.1)

Commas with independent clauses joined by conjunctions – When independent clauses are joined by and, but, or so, yet, or any other conjunction, a comma usually precedes the conjunction. If the clauses are very short, and closely connected, the comma may be omitted unless the clauses are part of a series. These recommendations apply equally to imperative sentences, in which the subject (you) is omitted but understood.

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Pick a position and then bang away at it, the way you might at a piñata, or a rabid dog. (39.1.2)

I felt increasingly at a disadvantage, and not just because the last time I reckoned the surface area of a cylinder my fellow

test- takers had not yet been born. (39.1.4)

I went to erase the errant marks, but then I wasn’t sure how many I needed to get rid of. (39.2.1)

Commas with compound predicates – A comma is not normally used between the parts of a compound predicate—that is, two or more verbs having the same subject, as distinct from two independent clauses. A comma may occasionally be needed, however, to prevent a misreading.

Still, she attended Bennington College and went on to a successful career as a book publicist. (39.3.1)

Stier requests extra practice sheets so she can quickly work her way up to high-school math. (40.1.2)

She’s spent an entire year bisecting angles and factoring quadratics (41.2.1)

Comma preceding main clause – A dependent clause that precedes a main clause should be followed by a comma.

By the time I got to the tenth section, I was zonked. (39.2.1)

That night, the kids decamp to their father’s house. (40.1.1)

Bowed but not broken, she returns to the tutoring center alone. (40.1.2)

Commas with “not” phrases – When a phrase beginning with not is interjected in order to clarify a particular noun, commas should be used to set off the phrase.

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“a guaranteed starter job in the industry—a job, not an internship—were gone.” (39.3.2)

In the early decades of the test, scores were revealed only to schools, not to students. (40.3.1)

Semicolons

Use of the semicolon – In regular prose, a semicolon is most commonly used between two independent clauses not joined by a conjunction to signal a closer connection between them than a period would.

I wanted to argue against the question’s very premise; who can even really say what progress is? (39.1.3)

Intelligence testing was a new but rapidly expanding enterprise; during the First World War, the United States Army had

given I.Q. tests to nearly two million soldiers to determine who was officer material. (40.1.4)

Many of the questions were tricky; some were genuinely hard. (41.2.3)

Semicolons in a complex series – When items in a series themselves contain internal punctuation, separating the items with semicolons can aid clarity. If ambiguity seems unlikely, commas may be used instead.

She Skypes with a tutor named Stacey in Seattle; undertakes a regimen called Cogmed, which is supposed to improve her

memory; and meets with a tutor named Erica in New York City. (39.3.3)

Hyphens and Dashes

Em dashes instead of commas, parentheses, or colons – The em dash, often simply called the dash, is the most commonly used and most versatile of the dashes. Em dashes are used to set off an amplifying or explanatory element and in that sense can function as an alternative to parentheses, commas, or a colon—especially when an abrupt break in thought is called for.

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she told us that we’d have twenty-five minutes to complete the first section of the exam—the essay question. (38.2.1)

SAT scores then came in two parts—verbal and math—with a maximum combined value of 1600. (39.2.4)

At first, it seems that her math score—a 510—has also improved (41.1.2)

Em dashes in place of commas – In modern usage, if the context calls for an em dash where a comma would ordinarily separate a dependent clause from an independent clause, the comma is omitted. Likewise, if an em dash is used at the end of quoted material to indicate an interruption, the comma can be safely omitted before the words that identify the speaker.

He tells her that the whole premise of her project—sampling a different method of test prep each month—is misguided

(41.1.1)

Whatever is at the center of the SAT—call it aptitude or assessment or assiduousness or ambition—the exam at this

point represents an accident. (41.2.4)

Em dashes to indicate sudden breaks – An em dash or a pair of em dashes may indicate a sudden break in thought or sentence structure or an interruption in dialogue.

On this particular day, the essay question involved progress—does it require struggle and conflict? (39.1.2)

I couldn’t remember exactly how it went, and so, heeding Stier’s advice—“Details count; factual accuracy doesn’t”—I made

something up. (39.1.3)

Ironically—or defensively?—this was most apparent to me while I was blathering on about the Manhattan Project. (41.2.3)

Parentheses

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Use of the parentheses - Parentheses—stronger than a comma and similar to the dash—are used to set off material from the surrounding text. Like dashes but unlike commas, parentheses can set off text that has no grammatical relationship to the rest of the sentence.

Her oldest child, Ethan, a B student with modest athletic sbilities (yet several minor concussions), was a sophomore in high

school. (39.2.2)

Intelligence testing was a new but rapidly expanding enterprise; during the First World War, the United States Army had

given I.Q. tests to nearly two million soldiers to determine who was officer material. (Walter Lippmann dismissed these tests as

“quackery in a field where quacks breed like rabbits.”) (40.1.4)

Three decades later, she’s proposing to loft herself into the upper reaches of the ninety-ninth percentile. (Stier can never quite figure out why there isn’t a hundredth percentile.) (40.3.2)

Question Marks

Use of the question mark – The question mark, as its name suggests, is used to indicate a direct question. It may also be used to indicate

editorial doubt (e.g., regarding a date or facts of publication) or (occasionally) at the end of a declarative or imperative sentence in order to express surprise, disbelief, or uncertainty.

Was this passage “analyzing an activity” or “challenging an assumption”? Both seemed valid. Was a phrase in a second

reading passage “speculative” or “ironic” or “defensive”? Damned if I knew. (39.2.1)

Ethan would soon be applying to college, but what were his chances of getting into a good one? (39.2.2)

What does all this “struggle and conflict” accomplish? (41.1.2)

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Question marks in relation to surrounding text and punctuation – A question mark should be placed inside quotation marks, parentheses, or brackets only when it is part of (i.e., applies to) the quoted or parenthetical matter.

“ ‘How long till the polynomials?’ I’d always ask Jennifer,” she recalls. (40.1.3)

Exclamation Points

Exclamation points with quotation marks, parentheses or brackets – An exclamation point should be placed inside quotation marks, parentheses, or brackets only when it is part of the quoted or parenthetical matter.

“You go, Mom!” he called out during one of the breaks.

Quotations and DialogueQuotation in Relation to Text

Initial capital or lowercase—run-in quotations – When a quotation introduced midsentence forms a syntactical part of the sentence, it begins with a lowercase letter even if the original begins with a capital.

When the quotation has a more remote syntactic relation to the rest of the sentence, the initial letter remains capitalized.

When I got to the point of quoting Robert Oppenheimer’s famous line “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” I

couldn’t remember exactly how it went, and so, heeding Stier’s advice—“Details count; factual

accuracy doesn’t”—I made something up. (39.1.3)

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Unspoken discourse – Thought, imagined dialogue, and other interior discourse may be enclosed in quotation marks or not, according to the context or the writer’s preference.

“Declare, don’t waffle,” she counsels. (39.1.2)

“A possibility presented itself,” she writes. (39.2.2)

“Ironically,” Stier observes, “it was now time for Ethan to begin studying for the SAT (40.1.2)

Quotation Marks Omitted

Decorative Initials (“drop caps” and raised initials) – When the first word of a chapter or section opens with a large raised or dropped initial letter, and the first words of the chapter or section consist of a run-in quotation, the opening quotation mark is often omitted.

Taking the SATs is not something to do lightly. (38.1.1)

Stier, a divorced mother of two who lives in Irvington, New York, decided to take up the SATs for the same reason we all

do foolish things: out of love. (39.2.2)

The SATs were administered for the first time on June 23, 1926. (40.1.4)

Spelling, Distinctive Treatment of Words, and CompoundsCompounds and Hyphenation

Adjective + noun – Hyphenated before but not after a noun.

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last-minute (38.1.1)

free-response (39.1.4)

middle-class (40.2.2)

Number, ordinal, + noun – Adjective form hyphenated before a noun, otherwise open.

third-grade level (40.1.2)

ninety-ninth percentile (40.3.2)

Number + noun – Hyphenated before a noun, otherwise open.

billion-dollar (40.3.3)

zero-sum (40.3.3)

Noun + participle – Hyphenated before a noun, otherwise open.

sleep-deprived (38.1.1)

guano-colored (38.2.1)

Manhattan-based (40.3.4)

Noun + noun, two functions (both nouns equal) – Both noun and adjective forms always hyphenated.

emergency-evacuation (38.1.1)

test-preparation (39.2.3)

test-takers (40.3.2)

Participle + up, out, and similar adverbs – Adjective form hyphenated before but not after a noun. Verb form always open.

run-up (39.3.4)

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Compounds formed with specific terms – Adjective forms hyphenated before and after the noun; noun forms open. Some permanent compounds closed, whether nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

half a million (40.2.2)

Words formed with prefixes – Compounds formed with prefixes are normally closed, whether they are nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs.

A hyphen should appear, however, before a capitalized word or a numeral.

mid-nineteen-fifties (40.2.2)

Emphasis

Italics for Emphasis – Use italics for emphasis only as an occasional adjunct to efficient sentence structure. Overused, italics quickly lose their force. Seldom should as much as a sentence be italicized for emphasis, and never a whole passage.

Stier had received a 410 on the verbal and a 480 on the math, scores she characterizes as “very bad.” (39.3.1)

“ ‘Not for a long time,’ Jennifer would say. (40.1.3)

this is when the Federal Trade Commission decided to investigate his claims (40.3.1)

“Everyone uses them,” a real-estate mogul she knows tells her (41.1.1)

Word Division

Dividing after a vowel – Unless a resulting break affects pronunciation, words are best divided after a vowel. When a vowel forms a syllable in the middle of a word, it should run to the first line if possible. Diphthongs are treated as single vowels (e.g., the eu in aneurysm).

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stu-dents (40.3.1)

na-tional (40.3.2)

pri-mary (40.3.3)

Dividing words ending in “ing” – Most gerunds and present participles may be divided before the ing. When the final consonant before the ing is doubled, however, the break occurs between the consonants.

begin-ning (39.2.2)

tutor-ing (39.3.5)

read-ing (41.1.2)

Dividing compounds, prefixes, and suffixes – Hyphenated or closed compounds and words with prefixes or suffixes are best divided at the natural breaks.

success-ful (39.3.1)

im-prove (39.3.3)

en-raged (39.3.5)

Dividing according to pronunciation – In the usage preferred by Chicago and reflected in Webster’s, most words are divided according to pronunciation rather than derivation.

assump-tion (39.2.1)

behav-ior (39.2.3)

al-most (39.2.4)

InconsistenciesPeriods with Abbreviation

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CMOS (10.4): Use no periods with abbreviations that appear in full capitals, whether two letters or more and even if lowercase letters appear within the abbreviation: VP, CEO, MA, MD, PhD, UK, US, NY, IL.

I.Q. (40.1.4)

Ph.D. (40.3.4)

Word Divisions

Dividing words ending in “ing” – Most gerunds and present participles may be divided before the ing. When the final consonant before the ing is doubled, however, the break occurs between the consonants.

recall-ing (39.3.4)

Compound/Hyphen Usage

According to Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, teenagers is not hyphenated.

teen-agers (38.1.1) (41.2.2)

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