Your Gluten-Free (Gluten Free?) Recipe

People planning Thanksgiving menus may be wondering which gluten-free recipes to prepare for their guests on restricted diets.

But others are simply wondering about the correctness of the hyphen: Is the compound word gluten-free or gluten free?  A client wrote to me today, saying, "Now my husband and I are debating over the correct use [of the hyphen]…aaagghhh! But perhaps I’m the one going crazy."

Forget the debates and the guttural sounds! Wonder no more!

The Chicago Manual of Style states:

"Compounds formed with free as second element are hyphenated both before and after a noun."

Chicago provides these examples:

toll-free number
accident-free driver
the number is toll-free
the driver is accident-free

I will add to the list:

the gluten-free recipe
the recipe is gluten-free

Now that we have the answer to this hyphenation question, I can take time to practice making the rice with nuts and raisins I am preparing for Thanksgiving--in place of stuffing, which is not gluten-free. Because I am much better at grammar and punctuation than blanching and sautéing, practice is essential.

Which compound words make you crazy? 

Lynn
Syntax Training

Comments

[David Richardson]

I use these two examples to get my students to understand the difference:

He's a hard working man.
He's a hard-working man.

I work in Sweden - mainly with Swedes - and this phenomenon has recently become a problem for Swedish speakers, as English has had more and more influence on Swedish. It's common to make compound nouns in Swedish, but if you start breaking them up (because it looks more English!) you get some strange results. Here's one:

Stekt kyckling lever

Stekt = fried/kyckling = chicken/lever = both 'lives' and 'liver'

So as it stands you've got a fried chicken that's come back to life … but it should be:

Stekt kycklinglever

If you write it right (!), you're back in the normal world of fried chicken livers!

David Richardson

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Hi, David. Your "hard working man" example is terrific--very clear and simple.

"Fried chicken lives"--I like it!

Thanks for taking the time to share these lively examples.

Lynn

[Lynn Hare]

Lynn,
The word that always throws me is "follow-up." Examples:
"I need to follow up on that lead. I'll make follow-up phone calls and emails after the holiday." Did I punctuate those right?

I've been gluten-free for 11 years - before it was popular. I'm a bit better at grammar & punctuation than basting and baking, too. I like to write more than I like to bite!

[George Raymond]

In my field, opinions are mixed on how to write high-speed rail. Some proponents write "high speed rail", I think for rhythm and drama. But I hyphenate.

[Lisa Marie]

I am in the LED lighting industry, and I always find myself questioning whether or not to hyphenate phrases like "LED-based," "energy-efficient," and "lead-time."

Lynn, this directive about phrases ending in "free" is very helpful. I just searched your blog for the word "hyphen" and found several other helpful blog posts. Thanks for these resources!

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Hi, Lynn. Thanks for commenting. "Follow up" tricks many people. Your examples are both correct.

I have written about that tricky phrase here:
http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2006/03/follow_up_on_fo.html

Anytime you need help with "follow up," just type it in the search box at top right.

Lynn

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Hello, George. I believe it is important to use the hyphen in "high-speed rail." After all, you are not describing a high rail or a speed rail. "High-speed" is clearly a combined idea.

What is the rationale for those in your industry who want to omit the hyphen?

Lynn

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Hi, Lisa Marie. I am glad you found my other blog posts on hyphens helpful.

I would hyphenate "LED-based" and "energy-efficient" before the nouns they modify but leave them open after the nouns.

I can't see hyphenating "lead time" unless it is used as an adjective before a noun, like this:

- We have a lead-time advantage.

Do my views agree with yours? I generally use "The Chicago Manual of Style" when I have hyphen questions.

Lynn

[Rebecca Kroegel]

Very interesting question, I believe the rules of proper English with such things as the hyphen will always gets lost! Its rather sad

[Lisa Marie]

Lynn, I do agree with your views on hyphenating those three phrases. I handle each of them in the ways you mentioned as well.

Our company actually does not have any preferred style manual, and I think it would be very helpful if we chose one so that we do not have constant confusion on issues like this!

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Hi, Rebecca. Language rules do evolve as people follow or ignore them. Because I see it as natural evolution, I don't find it sad, but engaging. It keeps me busy!

Lynn

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Hi, Lisa Marie. Many companies use "The Associated Press Stylebook," which comes out yearly in an inexpensive spiral-bound manual. I also like "Microsoft Manual of Style" and "The Gregg Reference Manual." I use them all.

Lynn