Eureka, a non-Eddie approach works!

JUNE CASAGRANDE

My cat, Eddie, has finally confronted his greatest demon, overcome a

lifelong fear and learned to stand up to an oppressive power. After

nearly 12 years of cowering, Eddie decided recently (perhaps inspired

by the loss of his brother, Stevie) that life’s too short to live in

fear of the vacuum cleaner.

Eddie, born a stray and abused by neighborhood boys before I took

him in, still runs in terror from every friend who walks in my front

door. He still keeps a safe distance when my boyfriend of three years

offers him treats. He still hides every time the doorbell rings. But

I’m proud to announce that when it comes to the roaring Eureka that

emerges from the closet less frequently than I care to admit, Eddie

has discovered his inner tiger.

Now, instead of running, Eddie attacks. With awe-inspiring,

David-and-Goliath-like courage, Eddie lunges at the black beast,

viciously swiping his needle-sharp claws. It’s enough to scare the

housecoat off of me. But unfortunately for Eddie, the vacuum cleaner

is not impressed.

When I think of the courage it must take for Eddie to stand up to

the roaring monster, my heart aches. When I think of how much better

his life would be if he applied that courage someplace more

constructive -- say by accepting treats from my boyfriend or making

friends with a visitor who wants only to pet him -- I discover a

lesson we would all do well to remember from time to time: Pick your

battles.

Soon I plan on sitting down and thinking long and hard about how I

can apply this lesson to my own life. In the meantime, however, I’ve

still got a few bones to pick left over from last week’s column.

Last week featured a back-and-forth between myself and a reader

over the question of when to and when not to hyphenate some prefixes,

especially “non.” I told this reader, called PM, that Associated

Press style says in general don’t use a hyphen to connect “non”

except before proper nouns or in awkward combinations, such as

non-nuclear.

I also conceded, however, that some -- most notably the Los

Angeles Times -- might agree with him that I had been wrong to use

the word “nonword” the week before. I pointed to several examples

found in recent Los Angeles Times articles that supported his side,

including “non-profit” and “non-threatening.” So, I surmised:

“Apparently, the Los Angeles Times style rules beg to differ with

Associated Press. (Like most big papers, The Times has its own style

guide, and I don’t have a copy. ‘Spose I should get one, because the

Daily Pilot is supposed to follow Times style rules.) ... It is fair

to say that you busted me.”

Well, that little note about not owning a copy of the Los Angeles

Times Style Guide proved more important than I realized. Because it

turns out that L.A. Times Style was against PM, too. It says, “Non-

In general, don’t hyphenate this prefix unless the next word is

uppercase. Because the designated Webster’s hyphenates primarily

compounds that include proper names, follow the solid style even with

words not found there, especially those that are in common use.

Nonleague, for example, is common sports usage.”

Boiled down to a simple rule, if you want to follow the guidelines

of most major news outlets, avoid using a hyphen with non whenever

you can, and only add it when something looks too odd without it,

such as “a non-Eddie approach to dealing with vacuum cleaners.”

Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe that Eddie (which, by the way,

is short for Eddie Puss, which is short for Oedipus because he’s a

little mommy lover), is trying to teach me something.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE is a freelance writer. She can be reached at

[email protected].