Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
SPELLING OF COMPOUND WORDS
is not entirely simple: the question is whether to write them as two words, as hyphenated words, or as single, uninterrupted words. Edited English permits considerable variation. Generally, compound nouns display all three possibilities: compare side meat, sideline, and side-glance. Compound verbs are usually written either as single words or hyphenated: to downplay, to double-space. Compound adjectives are usually hyphenated when they modify a noun (a fierce-looking dog, a rough-textured fabric) and left as separate words when they are really compound noun adjuncts modifying another noun (An English department meeting, a Red Cross nurse). The best (and simplest) advice, however, is to consult a current desk dictionary for the spelling. If the compound is not listed, do as you think best, because there is probably no consensus.
