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Below is a transcript showing e-mails between me and a crossword enthusiast in which I discuss whether phrases such as naturally-lit room and correctly-spelled prose contain the incorrect number of hyphens.

Of all the many e-versations I've had with crossword fans, this is the only one I can recall in which my correspondent was inexplicably rude (and wrong to boot).

----- September 17, 2002

On September 13, 2002, in CRU-L you said, "...and they [some newspapers] don't know how to compose clear, grammatical, correctly-spelled prose."

I thought you'd be ironized by the fact there should be no hyphen in "correctly-spelled."

--Johnny

----- Later on September 17, 2002

I don't know where you got that idea from, but I suggest you check any number of good grammar books before responding again.

-- Dan

----- September 19, 2002

Dan,

I'm surprised by your instantly hostile and haughty attitude.  I meant to be light and whimsical, perhaps to initiate a friendly dialogue for a moment.

Would your response have been different if you'd known you are not 100% correct about that hyphen?

You typed this: ". . . and they don't know how to compose clear, grammatical, correctly-spelled prose."  I said the hyphen shouldn't be there.

In answer to your implied question, here's where I got that idea from.

(1) From *The Random House Handbook* by Frederick Crews, page 374, here are the three examples given of error-free, properly hyphenated terms: "a barely suppressed gasp," "an openly polygamous chieftan," "the hypothetically worded note of protest."  Note, Dan, no hyphens.

(2) From *Plain English Handbook* by J. Martyn Walsh and Anna Kathleen Walsh, page 82, here's their particularly apt example of whether to use a hyphen: "a beautifully illustrated story."  See that? No hyphen.

(3) From *William Safire On Language,* page 137, here are his examples of correctly hyphenated phrases: "newly elected officials" and "freshly painted faces."  Again, no hyphens.

(4) From *Words on Words* by John Bremner, page 194, here is his unequivocally straightforward proscription: "Don't hyphenate an -ly adverb and an adjective: 'highly proficient,' not 'highly-proficient.'  This principle applies whether the words come before a noun or after a verb: 'A highly proficient electrician is needed for this job' and 'An electrician who is highly proficient is need for this job.'"  Plain enough?

(5) From *Modern American Usage* by Wilson Follett, page 428, here is the bluntly stated advice with regard to the hyphen: "Nothing gives away the incompetent amateur more quickly than the typescript that neglects this mark of punctuation or that employs it where it is not wanted.  It is not wanted between an adverb and its adjective before a noun: a serenely unconscious man / a verbally inept proposal / a remarkably pretty girl."  Note, Dan, the complete and total absence of hyphens.

(6) From a number of Web sites purporting to answer expertly the question whether a phrase of the form "correctly-spelled prose" is correct.  Every single one I found that addresses the question agrees "correctly-spelled prose" is incorrectly hyphenated.

(7) And mostly from my own knowledge of what's correct after so many years of being a writor and an editer.

To be honest, it never occurred to me you would actually disagree with me.  I assumed you would chuckle at the irony of mis-punctuating the phrase "correctly spelled prose" and that would pretty much be it, unless our common interests in crosswords and language and science sparked a conversation.

You say, "I suggest you check any number of good grammar books before responding again."

I take that to mean you have in mind a specific list of good grammar books that support your position so overwhelmingly that all the sources I listed above are almost criminally wrong.  I would like to see you cite even one.  That won't win the argument, but the fact is I really could not find a single source of information on the subject that sanctions a hyphen in "correctly spelled prose."

Now, to be sure, there can be exceptions.  If a particular phrase has become a term of art -- "nonuply-capped nematode," for example -- then perhaps it serves the purpose of consistently clear scientific communication to continue to use that non-standard form, particularly if the native language of a significant part of the readership is not, in this case, English.  But I would also suggest that whoever coined the phrase should have gotten it right to begin with.

In any case, "correctly-spelled prose" is hardly a term of art; it's a simple phrase like "error-free, properly hyphenated terms" or "particularly apt example" or "unequivocally straightforward proscription" or "bluntly stated advice."

Or logical, factually unassailable rebuttal.

I know you care about crisp, fastidiously correct English as much as I do, so I'm particularly interested in your response.  Unless it is purely hostile and unjustifiably haughty and imperious again.

No matter what, though, Dan, if it turns out I'm wrong about that hyphen I'll apologize and thank you for teaching me something.

--Johnny