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When discussing temperatures or decades, should it be hyphenated?
I understood that two-word adjectives need to be hyphenated, but why does MS Word think this should be, too?

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  • I'm having trouble parsing your MS Word sentence--are you confused why it does follow the rule that things should be hyphenated?
    – user10893
    Sep 7, 2011 at 13:58
  • @simchona: I think the confusion is that "mid" is a word and "80s" is not a word (at least I assume it is not, according to the poster, or why post this question) but MS Word hyphenates it as if "mid" and "80s" were two word.
    – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
    Sep 7, 2011 at 14:16
  • What sentence is this flagged as an error in? I can't duplicate it with some simple examples in Word, but I'm not sure if I've turned on grammar checking correctly. @simchona, The problem is that this phrase is not necessarily an adjective. You would say "In the mid 80s" for example.
    – Random832
    Sep 7, 2011 at 16:50
  • Examples of sentences: 1) "The temperature yesterday was in the mid 80s." 2) "He was born sometime during the mid 80s." Concerning MS Word, I thought "mid 80s" is correct but it wanted to change it to "mid-80s" and I disagree. Thanks everyone
    – Mark
    Sep 8, 2011 at 6:58
  • Does it just do it with "mid", or also high/low/early/late? Part of the problem may be that "mid" is perceived as somehow not being a real word.
    – Random832
    Sep 9, 2011 at 16:24

3 Answers 3

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Should it be "mid 80s" or "mid-80s"?

Yes.

My American Heritage Dictionary has entries for the adjective 'mid' and the prefix 'mid-'.

Modifying the noun 80s with the adjective mid would be written as mid 80s.

But creating word by appending the noun 80s to the prefix mid would be written as mid-80s.

So, it depends on which form of mid you use.

Please note that if there is a standard dictionary for the project you are working on, you must ensure that there is an entry for the adjective mid, not just the prefix. If no such entry exists, you're stuck with the prefix mid, which means you're also stuck with the hyphen.

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  • 1
    Yes, as I just posted above, I am using "mid" as an adjective to modify "80s." Thus it makes the most sense to me to have it without the hyphen. But now I understand that MS Word thinks I was creating a two-word adjective like "mid-80s music" or "mid-80s temperature." Thanks for everyone's comments.
    – Mark
    Sep 8, 2011 at 7:01
  • This has just resurfaced. Could you please highlight the section verbatim, link and attribute?
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Jun 12, 2019 at 14:23
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This is really a kind of corner case where there's probably no consensually accepted solution used and preferred by the majority of speakers.

Just either:

  • if you have no editor, use whichever you think looks clearest to read and don't worry about it too much;
  • if you have an editor, use whichever your editor tells you to use (or let them worry about it).
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I would normally go for the non-hyphenated case.

NB "mid '80s" is more correct for decades because it is a contraction of "mid 1980s" (presumably).

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  • Yeah, but that also just depends on your preference for how you use apostrophes. Would you write 'phone, for example?
    – Neil Coffey
    Sep 7, 2011 at 17:00
  • "More correct" does not mean I'd always (or even prefer to) use it. But, yes, 'phone is still a contraction of telephone.
    – Mark Hurd
    Sep 7, 2011 at 17:12
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    Mmmm OK, why exactly do you consider it "more correct", then? Unless you think that (a) God stipulates this kind of thing, or (b) the use of the apostrophe in a particular place is intrinsically tied to some phenomenon of nature, then really what you're left with is a matter of preference. Maybe in some cases it's a collective preference, but it's still a preference!
    – Neil Coffey
    Sep 7, 2011 at 18:08
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    I would've thought the use of apostrophes in contractions was pretty clear, and I would agree that there certainly should be one in '80s. The example 'phone is different - you're talking about the usage and spelling of a single word that changes over time, such as Halloween. Indicating a contraction such as '80s is a different kettle of fish.
    – Stuart Allen
    Sep 8, 2011 at 6:04
  • I suppose my "more correct" means "more formal": if you're writing in a context where you'd expect to have nits picked, using 'phone (or probably the full word telephone) is less likely to be questioned than just phone. (In fact I see both the same as @Snubian, but '80s is not as "changed" as 'phone.)
    – Mark Hurd
    Sep 8, 2011 at 10:51

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