My latest post (short story) features a doll with pink hair that is referred to as 'pink doll' through the piece. Should this be hyphenated to 'pink-doll'? It is a label for the doll, the child in the story thinks of it as the pink doll. Am tending towards hyphenating but am uncertain.

No, it wouldn't normally be hyphenated. But if the little girl is calling it that as a name, it should be capitalised: Pink Doll.

The only time it would be correct to hyphenate would be if the two words together were working as a single adjective:

"I don't want the big car, I want the pink-doll car!"

Emma

Thank you Emma. Yes the adjective rule is clear. And now that you say it, of course, the noun/compound noun rule is clear too. Thanks for the point about the capitalisation. I'll have to sort out whether she is using it as a name. Perhaps not ...
regards
Indira

I agree with Emma but, just to create confusion, if the two nouns formed a name (i.e. requiring capitalisation) and were then used adjectivally, it could be a problem using hyphenation. For example, I think it should be:

He found he had slipped into an unconvincing Ernest Hemingway style

whereas

Ernest-Hemingway style

looks wrong to me (but might not be!).

So 'pink-doll mood' is definitely right but I rather think 'Pink Doll mood' would be correct when using the name as an adjective.

What's your view, Emma or anybody?

Chris

Eeps.
I suppose I would use a hyphen. Fortunately I don't have to deal with the issue in the concerned story.
Indira

I agree, I think if it involved caps, I wouldn't hyphenate., I think because it's very obvious that the Ernest and the Hemingway belong together.

New Hart's Rules (OUP), or Judith Butcher's Copy-Editing, might tell you, but I don't have my copies to hand...

Emma

I'll echo what people have already said regarding no hyphen and caps. Just to add that my instinct would be no hyphen for Pink Doll as an adjective.

Sorry to hijack this thread but I always wonder whether to hyphenate these:

the long-haired man

He remained tight-lipped

etc.

I usually do but have noticed that most people don't. To me, long haired man is wrong because it is unclear whether long applied to the man or to the hair. The hyphen clarifies everything. Tight lipped is trickier...

Then again, I'm French, so I have no real clue. French and pedantic. Worst possible combination found in a single human being.

Nancy

I'd agree about long-haired man, and it is the usual reason for that kind of hyphen - though this one's fairly obvious without.

Tight lipped I probably wouldn't when it's after, but before it's the same as long haired:

The tight-lipped man began to argue.

The arguing man was tight lipped, and getting crosser.

Emma

French and pedantic. Worst possible combination found in a single human being.

When it comes to grammar, if you want pedantic try Russian. French is a walk in the park (or une promenade dans le parc), in comparison.

But if you're arguing at this kind of level in a language which isn't your native one, that hardly counts as not having a clue.

Alex