When do you use a colon and a hyphen?

A colon is used to introduce a list, explanation, or quotation, signaling that what follows is directly related to the preceding clause. For example, you might say, "She has three favorite fruits: Apples, bananas, and Oranges." A hyphen, on the other hand, is used to join Words or parts of Words, such as in compound adjectives (e.g., "well-known author") or to connect numbers (e.g., "twenty-four").