There are many rules governing punctuation; this is why punctuation falls into the category of grammar, not orthography. My aim here is not to give you a comprehensive explanation of every and each punctuation mark in one reading—that would be comparable to reading a dictionary from cover to cover believing that you would uptake all the lexicon by just having read it. The image presented above is no exception. My intent is to give you a small portion of information a bit at a time to allow for assimilation: read it; think about it; notice it in other place; and try to use it.
Hyphens are the shortest of three dashes: hyphen -, en dash –, and em dash —. These are not interchangeable. So, street-smart gal is correct, but street street–smart gal isn’t. Can you see they are different in length? The cartoon describes a category of modifiers that are not united with a hyphen in a dictionary. If a modifying phrase is hyphenated in a dictionary, you hyphenate it wherever it is in a clause. For example, you’ll find ‘happy go lucky’ hyphenated in a dictionary; therefore it is always hyphenated:
She’s a happy-go-lucky girl.
She seems quite happy-go-lucky.
But, if it isn’t, well…, you are going to have to apply a grammatical rule:
Is it before the noun it modifies, or is it after it?
She’s a street-smart gal. = Hyphenated.
That gal is street smart. = Unhyphenated
Are both words adjectival or is there an adverb in there?
Although it was a highly(adv) recommended movie, I thought it was a flop. = Unhyphenated
If there is an adverb, is it one of those which is part of the exception to the rule?
He’s a well-educated person.
See? Hyphenation doesn't consist of nonsensical-mind-boggling rules.
Would you like to know about other types of dashes?
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