Self storage is an advantage of retractable testicles.
Question:
Should I put a hyphen in self-storage or not? Self-storage companies on the web seem to use it or not as they see fit but what is the correct form?
Answer:
Use the hyphen when "self storage" is an adjective before a noun: Self-storage company otherwise not: Self storage is an advantage of retractable testicles. The system was self storage. If "self storage" is part of a brand name, then it's up to the company whether to use a hyphen or not, because the name will be used in all parts of speech and sentence positions. I'd use a hyphen at all times. Two reasons: (1) The inevitable drift in compounds is from separation to hyphen to full joinder. This particular one is far enough along that hyphenation is fully natural and should be encouraged. (2) Many "self-" compounds don't concern the "self" in quite the way that might be expected. Thus, in "furniture storage" the furniture is stored, and in "cold storage" cold things are stored. But the self in "self-storage" isn't stored. Rather, the speaker is storing other things. The hyphen helps the reader realize this a nanosecond earlier. The world would be a better place if more people put at least some of their hyphens in self-storage. Non-digital "self-storage" -- at least in the UK -- involves a secure storage place where there's no intervening person (that is, you put your own stuff in and lock it up without it being handled by anyone else). The on-line version presumably implies that the "storer" doesn't have access to what is stored. The more I think about it, the more I come round to your way of thinking. It now strikes me that "self-storage" is always adjectival because when it doesn't attach to a seen noun it conjures up an unseen one by ellipsis. Perhaps it is equivalent to such terms as a "facial".
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