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Is it sufficient to say shot-shot where the hyphen would stand for to? Would a dash work, as in London–Brighton?

I have a sentence like this:

... is the mean change in the mean energy of the bunch, fluctuating shot–shot.

where the final two words need to be read as “shot to shot”.

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  • It would be fine as an adjectival phrase/ compound: shot-shot fluctuation, but probably not as used here after 'fluctuating,' where shot to shot is required.
    – Kris
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 9:34
  • Evidently this question has not been well precived. Any comments on how to improve it, respectively what to do differently in the future?
    – magu_
    Commented Nov 18, 2014 at 10:28
  • Better title; accurate spelling; better formatting; evidence of thought with other examples which may be relevant. I’ve made some changes. Can’t guarantee upvotes though.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Nov 18, 2014 at 18:08
  • @AndrewLeach, thank you for your improvements, I'll try to use them.
    – magu_
    Commented Nov 19, 2014 at 7:58

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"shot-shot" is not acceptable. Probably you should also include the word "from" i.e. "... is the mean change in the mean energy of the bunch, fluctuating from shot to shot".

In written English, using "-" in place of "to" is generally restricted to uses that involve time intervals eg 10am-2pm or M-F and would be used in notices or signs rather than in a formal written report which seems to be what you are writing.

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