English Language & Usage Asked by The Advocate on January 22, 2021
This is a bit of a conundrum, if you ask me. The compound noun in my title, ‘Fluid Flow’ does not require hyphenation. On the other hand, this is then followed by ‘-Related’. If I were to put: “Fluid Flow-Related…” then it would look like ‘related’ only relates to the second noun, i.e. ‘fluid’. So I am inclined to put “Fluid-Flow-Related…” Yet this arguably looks a little odd, and over-fussy – especially in a title.
If anyone can shed any light on this head-scratcher, I would be most grateful!
(NB: regarding the link to a possible duplicate thread – the solution which I am specifically seeking to avoid [in the question I have put forward] is the very solution which is suggested in the other thread; in effect I am actually asking how to avoid a two-hyphen solution.)
I don't think it's uncommon to see 2 premodifiers hyphenated once (e.g. "quantum mechanics-related" or "panda bear-like"), but I would say, technically, sentences with that issue should be rephrased to use a single compound modifier (e.g. "There are several black-bean-like varieties of fruits.").
Answered by Jessica D. on January 22, 2021
If you want to avoid the double hyphen, recast the phrase. As a bonus, you will avoid the ugliness of long adjectival words. For fluid(-)flow-related is ugly regardless of hyphenation. Avoid this whenever possible, just like compounds with -based and -like. There is almost always a far less ugly alternative.
Example: *fluid-flow-related (problems/study/research) →
problems involving the flow of fluids
study on the flowing of fluids
research into the flow of fluids
Answered by Cerberus_Reinstate_Monica on January 22, 2021
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