79. Nicknames.—Do not quote nicknames of persons or of characters in plays or novels: as, Ty Cobb, T. R., Heinie Zim, Becky Sharp, etc.

9. The Apostrophe

80. Possessive Case.—Use an apostrophe and an s to indicate the possessive case singular, no matter whether the word ends in one or two s's: as, Burns's house, Furness's hat.[51] Use the apostrophe and s to indicate the possessive case plural when the plural does not end in s: as, men's meeting, children's shoes. Use only the apostrophe to indicate the possessive case plural when the plural ends in s: as, boys' hats, ladies' outfitter. In names of corporations, cases of joint authorship, etc., where two names are equally in the possessive case, put the apostrophe, or the apostrophe and s, only after the name nearest the thing possessed: as, Farmers and Merchants' bank, Allen and Bowen's "Classical Mythology."

81. Possessive Pronouns.—Do not use the apostrophe before the s in possessive pronouns: as, its, hers, theirs.

82. Contractions.—Use an apostrophe in contracted words to indicate the omission of letters: as, couldn't, he'll, you're.

[51] Occasional exceptions to this general rule are found, where euphony would be violated by the additional s: as, Ulysses' son, Moses' staff.

10. The Hyphen

83. Compound Words.—Put a hyphen between the members of a compound word. Words compounded with the following prefixes and suffixes are generally hyphenated: able-, brother-, by-, cross-, -elect, ex-, father-, great-, half-, -hand, mother-, open-, public-, quarter-, -rate, self-. In particular, hyphenate the following words:

able-bodied goal-post old-fashioned
attorney-general good-by post-mortem
balk-line great-grandfather post-office
base-hit half-back president-elect
base-line half-witted quarter-back
basket-ball home-stretch quarter-stretch
brother-in-law judge-elect second-rate
bucket-shop kick-off shop-girl
by-law kick-out short-stop
by-product law-abiding side-lines
court-martial life-saving so-called (a.)
cross-examine line-up son-in-law
ex-president mail-box spit-ball
father-in-law man-of-war to-day
full-back mother-in-law to-morrow
goal-line office-seeker to-night

84. Words Written Solid.—Words compounded of the following prefixes and suffixes are generally written solid: a-, after-, ante-, anti-, auto-, bi-, demi-, -ever, grand-, -holder, in-, inter-, intra-, -less, mid-, mis-, off-, on-, over-, post-, re-, -some, sub-, super-, tri-, un-, under-, up-, -ward, -wise, -with. The following should be written solid: