Should I hyphenate “Haunted Mansion themed outfit”?

Question

In a sentence “She wore a Haunted Mansion themed outfit.” Should there be any hyphens?

a) a Haunted Mansion themed outfit
b) a Haunted-Mansion themed outfit
c) a Haunted-Mansion-themed outfit
d) a Haunted-Mansion-themed-outfit

perhaps a) and b) are the best and d) is the least likely, but I'm not sure why.

I think this is a duplicate of Is it correct to hyphenate with compound premodifiers? If so, where is the hyphen placed? but I don't agree with the answer which suggests "Haunted-Mansion" is correct. — Laurel, Sep 03 '23 at 12:04
I'd use Haunted-Mansion–themed nowadays. The hyphen shows the tighter, more cohesive bond, while the usual hyphen for X-themed gets 'demoted' to an en-dash, showing a looser (but still real) bond. But answers here answer your question: Is it correct to hyphenate with compound premodifiers? If so, where is the hyphen placed? << file-system–related software >> / << a brick-oven–pizza restaurant >>. — Edwin Ashworth, Sep 03 '23 at 12:51
Several hyphens would be better, but it's really a stylistic choice

She wore a Haunted-Mansion-themed outfit. // This was going to be my answer but the question has been closed. — Mari-Lou A, Sep 03 '23 at 12:52
Just don’t do it. It’s ugly and clunky. Prepositions are in the English language for a reason. “An outfit with a haunted-mansion theme” is a compromise, but “An outfit with the theme of a haunted mansion” removes the problem. — David, Sep 03 '23 at 18:41
Some style guides seem to call for hyphenating everything pre-noun. It's silly but whoever pays your wages decides. — Stuart F, Sep 03 '23 at 20:28

Tinfoil Hat · Answer 1 · 2023-09-03T23:18:53.960

This is a matter of style. Your following The Chicago Manual of Style would produce:

a Haunted Mansion–themed outfit

That’s an en dash there — not a hyphen.

CMOS states: “The en dash can be used in place of a hyphen in a compound adjective when one of its elements consists of an open compound . . .” It adds: “As the first two examples illustrate, the distinction is most helpful with proper compounds, whose limits are made clear within the larger context by capitalization.” Here are those examples plus a non-proper-noun one:

_{the post–World War II years}
_{Chuck Berry–style
lyrics}
_{country music–influenced lyrics (or lyrics
influenced by country music)}

The manual adds: “A single word or prefix should be joined to a hyphenated compound by another hyphen rather than an en dash; if the result is awkward, reword”:

_{non-English-speaking peoples}
_{a two-thirds-full cup
(or, better, a cup that is two-thirds full)}

It does note: “Because this editorial nicety will almost certainly go unnoticed by the majority of readers, it should be used sparingly, when a more elegant solution is unavailable.”

I think you could go without punctuation, if you imagine Haunted Mansion to modify themed outfit. Compare a fabulous themed outfit — no hyphens. Better yet: a Haunted Mansion theme outfit.

_{Source: The Chicago Manual of Style, 6.80: En dashes with compound adjectives (login required)}

While this is the correct answer for everybody who is forced to follow CMoS, it should be noted that this is yet another kind of situation in which its dictates produce the results that fail to reflect the logical structure of what is being said, in a way that could be annoying to the writers and readers who care about that. It is interesting that, even though this question lists four possible ways of dealing with the matter that occurred to the OP, the one required by CMoS is not among them. Any of the first three of the four would make much more sense than the CMoS one. — jsw29, Dec 11 '23 at 16:11

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 03 '23 at 15:48

Several hyphens would be better, but it's really a stylistic choice. I believe options a), b), and c) are all acceptable, d) with its three hyphens is overkill.

She wore a Haunted-Mansion-themed outfit.

The adjective haunted and the noun mansion are united by a hyphen which in turn are joined to the second adjective themed. The hyphens clarify that the costume (outfit) itself is not haunted.

Should I hyphenate “Haunted Mansion themed outfit”?

2 Answers2

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