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I was reading this question on English.SE [Is a lengthy combination of words
with hyphens like “the worst not-technically-in-a-recession year in American
history” a new fashion of
writing?](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/84296/is-a-lengthy-
combination-of-words-with-hyphens-like-the-worst-not-
technically-i/200472#200472).

Surely, the combination could be _called and used in_ **nominalization** or
**inversion** ([source](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/259442/is-
there-a-way-to-noun-a-prepositional-verb-phrase)), but the combination is very
long and usually it's intended as a form of light sarcasm or irony.

I'll cite the example

> ... The year’s second-quarter growth rate was just downgraded to an anemic
> 1.3 percent, real household income dipped in the month leading up to the two
> political conventions, and the American Enterprise Institute’s James
> Pethokoukis suggests that 2012 might turn out to be the **worst not-
> technically-in-a-recession year** in modern American history”.
>
> ([same source](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/84296/is-a-
> lengthy-combination-of-words-with-hyphens-like-the-worst-not-
> technically-i/200472#200472))

If I wanted to do a verbatim translation, my first method would _not be to
translate the combination directly_ but _to make it standardized and
straightforward_. This method is used by [Mitch's answer in the English.SE
question](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/84300/129283).

> ... 2012 might turn out to be the **worst year in modern American history
> not technically in a recession** :

Why? Because translating it like this is NG and could be ambiguous or doesn't
even have any meaning and is hard to pronounce in Japanese:

> ... 「最悪+[not technically in a recession]+年」 ...
>
> _This is simply bad "nominalization" in Japanese._

My questions are:

  1. **Does this "nominalization" exist in Japanese?**
  2. **If you were to translate it from the start, would you do it like I did in my first method (making it standard)?**
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grammar
Does the Japanese equivalent of a lengthy combination of hyphenated English words exist?
First, gobbledigook exists in almost every language. That said,

>   1. Is this "nominalization" exist in Japanese?
>

"Yes" and "No." "No" because the syntax of _traditional_ Japanese does not
include "-" as one of its elements. And "Yes" because similar intricate
constructions do exist.

>   2. If you were to translate it, in the beginning, will you do my first
> method (making it standard)?
>

Definitely. Why not? (I admit that attempt is not always successful, though.)
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If we focus on the word order, _normal_ Japanese relative clauses look pretty
much similar to this hyphen-combined English phrase. That is, a large
modifying clause can come _before_ the modified word.

>   * large-fish-eating cat 大きな魚を食べる猫
>   * not-technically-in-a-recession year 定義上は不況でない年
>   * I-wanna-marry-you-kinda liking
> [お嫁さんにしたいの好き](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/16020/5010)
>

So the Japanese language usually doesn't need hyphens.

If you want to simulate the mild "sarcastic" effect, one way to do so is just
to use brackets. Using 二重カギ括弧 (`『』`) more explicitly shows there's some
special nuance implied in the content.

>   * 2012年は米国史上最悪の「定義上は不況でない」年となるだろう。
>   * 2012年は米国史上最悪の『定義上は不況でない』年となるだろう。
>
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