- Hyphenate compounds with the endings elect and designate:
- president-elect
- minister-designate
- Hyphenate most titles beginning with the prefix vice:
- vice-president
- vice-chairman
Exceptions: viceroy, vicereine, viceregal
- Hyphenate the names of certain military and administrative positions in which a noun is followed by another noun, by an adjective or by a prepositional phrase:
- Lieutenant-Governor
- secretary-general
- aide-de-camp
- Commander-in-Chief
- sergeant-at-arms
There are, however, many common exceptions to this rule; the following are some examples:
- Governor General
- Governor in Council
- Judge Advocate General
- Solicitor General
- Receiver General for Canada
Note that in Canadian usage the hyphen is used in compounds designating military ranks such as Lieutenant-General, Vice-Admiral and Rear-Admiral, whereas the American practice is to omit the hyphen. Similarly, the official title of the second-highest-ranking official of the United States is Vice President.
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