Book 6 Title -- Hyphen?

[antoshachekhonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 111179

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Kathi Russell" <krussell98 at c...> wrote:
>   > Colin:
>   > According to "The Leaky Cauldron" the title for Book 6 is 
>   > "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" not "Harry Potter
>   > and the Half Blood Prince" as per the use of half-blood in
>   > the books.
> 
>   > bamf:
>   > My problem with that thinking, is that Jo posted it to the 
>   > website without the hyphens.  So, until JKR posts that it 
>   > should be 'Half-Blood' instead of 'Half Blood', I'll use it 
>   > without the hyphen.
> 
>   > Geoff:
>   > Interestingly, if you look on her site at the list of FAQs 
>   > about the books, one of the questions has a hyphen in 
>   > Half-Blood Prince.
> 
> 
>   Okay -
>   I can't figure out what the big deal is about the hyphen, no-hyphen 
>   debate. Can someone please explain this to me?
> 
>   Thanks!
> 
>   K

The difference is one of those stupid questions that drive editors bonkers--what is 
modifying what? 

A "half-blood prince" is either a prince who is half-blooded or a prince of the half-bloods. 

A "half blood prince" is a partial "blood prince" whatever the hell that is--a prince of 
vampires was one of the theories I tossed out myself when this first came up. It is a phrase 
that--with what we know to this point--makes no sense. But it might in light of new 
plotlines.

Hyphens are tricky things. ;-)

JKR's site now uses the hyphen, as does amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com--not that 
those sites are infallible, by any means. So until we discover otherwise, I assume it is 
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

Antosha