Chicago vs. Webster

To hyphenate or not to hyphenate—that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler to preserve that hallowed dash
Dividing one letter from its brother in the manner of Chicago
Or to take arms against superfluous marks
And, like Webster, end them.

I recently stumbled into an editorial conundrum. Actually, I’ve been stumbling all around this problem for months—years, even—and didn’t even know it. Long story short, I experienced an enlightening yet humbling moment of learning this morning. Now for the long story …

The enlightening, humbling moment began with a question about the word “coworker”—or is it “co-worker”? For years, following the trusty Merriam-Webster Dictionary that sits at my right hand, I have used “coworker.” I don’t think anyone has ever asked me about it before, but this week an author brought it up. “That looks strange to me,” he wrote. I began writing a reply, explaining that “coworker” is the standard spelling according to Merriam-Webster, and that “co-worker” is a variant spelling. I even looked the word up, just to be sure. Yup, I was right. Then I went to Merriam-Webster Online, thinking I’d send the author a link to the “coworker” entry (I do like to be helpful that way), and I got this message:

The word you’ve entered isn’t in the dictionary.

Huh? I went back to the print dictionary, and there it was again: “coworker.” Just for kicks, I searched for “co-worker” in the online dictionary.

The word you’ve entered isn’t in the dictionary.

Fascinating. I fiddled around online a little longer and found an entry for “coworker” on Dictionary.com. I was momentarily happy, but then I decided to check Chicago (which trusty volume sits at my left hand). And there it was, under Words Formed with Prefixes (7.90):

co: coequal, coauthor, coeditor, coordinate, cooperation, but co-opt, co-worker.

Crap (to paraphrase what I actually said at that enlightening, humbling moment). So all these years I’ve been following my trusty dictionary and unknowingly thumbing my nose at my trusty style guide? Sorta kinda, but there’s more …

Just for more kicks, I checked the APA, MLA, and AP guides. APA and MLA both use “coworker” (yay!), and AP uses “co-worker” (but they’re weird anyway, so who cares?).

Of course there’s a lesson here, and it is this: Know your style guide, and don’t assume that it will always agree with your dictionary. The style guide has the final say, no matter how wrong you think it is.

(But come on, Chicago, “co-worker”? That’s so twentieth century!)