February 28, 2008: Issue 228
With February 29 looming, let’s look at leap and some synonymous terms.
The preferred past tense of leap is leaped (not leapt):
He leaped at the chance to update the back deck.
With new appliances, the kitchen leaped into the 21st century.
Jump start is two words as a noun, hyphenated as a verb:
Early bloomers give this garden a jump start.
Jump-start your healthy day with herbal tea and low-fat applesauce muffins.
Hyphenate compounds with hopping when it’s used in the sense of visiting:
They went museum-hopping for quilt pattern ideas.
Go department-hopping to find the numbered frogs and win a prize at Friday’s party.
Back to Style on the Go Archive
Back to BHG Stylebook Table of Contents