Re: 50-ohm or 50 ohm ?

[Bill Burns <WBURNS -at- VAX -dot- MICRON -dot- COM>]

Martin Rowe writes:

>The copy editors argue that both 50 and [uom] are modifiers of
>resistor and should be hyhenated. The technical editors argue
>that "Proper English sometimes makes poor (or a least odd)
>engineering notation."

I had the same problem here when I took over the documentation duties for
an engineering group.  The engineers who confronted me about this issue simply
had never seen it done.  Whether or not it made "poor...'engineering
notation'" had little to do with it.  I suspect that the real issue may be
a lack of knowledge about hyphenation rules.  Check the other compound
adjectives and see if they are also unhyphenated.

One point you may want to consider is whether the term appears with an
article.  I've found that many engineers and technical folk tend to (con)dense
their writing by removing articles (sometimes even plural endings).  If they
write "50 ohm resistor" rather than "50-ohm resistor" with no hyphen, can the
reader be sure that "50 ohm" modifies resistor?  Maybe the writer left off the
plural ending on "resistor" (50 ohm resistors)?  The writer could, of course,
argue that "they'll know what I'm trying to say."  I don't think I need to
expound upon the problem with THAT kind of reasoning.

In _Handbook of Technical Writing_, I found the following:

        A hyphen is always used as part of a letter or number modifier.

        EXAMPLE:  5-cent, 9-inch, A-frame, H-bomb

Unless the technical editors have a conflicting source or some other support
other than a blanket dismissal of proper conventions, I'd go with the copy
editors' choice.

Bill Burns                            *
Assm. Technical Writer/Editor         * LIBERTY, n. One of imagination's most
Micron Technology, Inc.               * precious possessions.
Boise, ID                             *
WBURNS -at- VAX -dot- MICRON -dot- COM                 *                     Ambrose Bierce