Hyphenated gray-zone concepts pull meaning toward the middle rather than intensifying it.

Evidence

With hyphenated concepts we have the problem of how to combine concepts on either side of the hyphen. Chapter 3 discussed when adjectives are used to accentuate or attenuate a concept. For example, one might have hypotheses about “very wealthy” countries. “Quality of” concepts are used to push the positive pole further in the ideal type direction. With gray zone hyphenated concepts, the pull is in the opposite direction: the hyphen pulls the concept toward the middle. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 1071

Categorization

• QUESTION: Does the same attenuating pull apply to hyphenated ethnic or religious labels (e.g. ‘Muslim-American’), which might otherwise read as intensifiers?
• XREF: connects to: Ambiguity in a symbol’s meaning weakens its status signal. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 228