Writing Tip 377: “Pickup” vs “Pick Up” vs “Pick-up”

If you’re hoping it’ll be a pick-me-up to be picked up by a pickup, you surely must have a handle on your language. But just in case you’re slightly baffled and would rather go find a pick-up game you’d rather be a part of, let’s take a moment to pick through these possibilities. They’re always good to know if you’re in a pickle.

Should “pickup” be one word or two?

Here’s what you need to remember:

“Pickup” (one word) is a noun, such as a truck, or an adjective, such as an impromptu round of something. You can ride in your pickup, or you can assemble a pickup band. You can tell your friend the plan for the package pickup, or you could have an impromptu round of pickup basketball.
“Pick up” (two words) is the verb form. You can pick up the package when your pickup truck arrives at your destination.
“Pick-up” (hyphenated) is a little glimpse of word evolution in action. When words change their forms, hyphenation is often stage one of their transformation. For example, “electronic mail” became “e-mail.” But as these words become more accepted, the hyphen is generally dropped, as is the case with “email” today. “Pick-up” can still be found with that hyphen in place, but it isn’t necessary anymore. Call it quaint, nostalgic (here’s looking at you, Pick-up Sticks), or verbose (if punctuation could be considered verbose), but when this “pick-up” form is used, remember it’s always as the noun or adjective form.

This has nothing to do with what Peter Piper picked; nor does it have anything to do with piccolos or Picasso. Should you be picky with your “pickup,” “pick up,” and “pick-up” usage? Perhaps. You can pick that for yourself.

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