The forms of compounds (two words used together) in English are not fixed. Some terms have moved from open compounds (baseball) to hyphen (baseball) to close (baseball), a sample that reflects familiarity and frequency of use. Hyphens are often used when a compound word modifies a noun (“bleached curtains,” “fire-roasted tomatoes”) but not when -glass adverb is used (“mildly salted peanuts”).
Of the correspondence we received at Merriam-Webster, the majority of them came from people asking how to style a particular compound word. Should it be two words? A word? Should dashes be inserted between two elements?
The definitive answer is: it’s complicated.
Open, hyphenated and closed compounds
For most of the dictionary’s history, a compound word was represented in only one form—closed, hyphenated, or open—even if there are examples of two or sometimes all three forms being used. This practice is necessary because of page space constraints: it is simply impractical to display all possible permutations of a compound word at the expense of other information in a printed dictionary entry. You see only one style—the one that occurs most often in a sample of evidence. If that proof changes, then the title has been modified.
Even in the digital age, this holds true for many entries. terms clackfor example, is shown as an open compound (two words), although there is plenty of evidence for clack in the wild world. The same is true for terms like Vice president And tape measure. Not having a particular compound style in the dictionary doesn’t mean it’s not used; it just means it’s much less common.
Historically, many compound words followed the pattern of entering English as an open compound word, then gradually with a hyphen and finally a closed form as they became more familiar. After all, there was a time when baseball spelled as baseball. As the sport ingrained itself in the American consciousness, it gradually began to be spelled with a hyphen (baseball), but now any form other than solid compound baseball looks like an influence.
Similar, lifestyle, template, door bell, Screwdriver, Wind in the same direction, rowingAnd postcard all have an era when they were more commonly encountered as open or hyphenated compounds. Now we almost always see them closed and that’s the only style they are shown in the dictionary.
Even words that seem similar can show different forms. For example, you have the ability to spell shoelace, postcard, rattlesnakeAnd door knob as self-contained compounds, but you can also find shoe tree, Post office, striped snakeAnd door knob like open. You are more likely to find hyphens in double title or two floor than in double play. And front yard And front seat tends to appear as two words, but backyard And back seat as one.
All of this means that there is a lot of flexibility when it comes to the styling of compounds and whether a particular compound is open, hyphenated, or closed. It’s so flexible, in fact, that the dictionary doesn’t always give dry answers, no matter how hard it tries.
But don’t despair: there are few guidelines that are consistent and can help you.
Principle (Thin)
For example, when an often-open compound word is used to modify another noun, the compound word will usually have a hyphen. So you can talk about a lover Science Fiction go to a sci-fi conference. Similar to a video game collectorOne food truck businessOne pet store employeeor even adjectives made up of phrases, like movies for television or over-the-counter drugs.
(Even in these cases, the hyphen is sometimes dropped for very common terms that are less likely to be misunderstood, such as real estate agent or health care law).
Dashes also work well with compound adjectives that end in participles: a badger looks funny, a sun-burnt roof, grilled tomatoes, a thief extorting money.
Hyphens are not usually used for adjectives modified by adverbs, even if they come before a noun: lightly salted peanuts, distant cousins, a poorly written sentence.
For most other cases, the best strategy may be to believe in what you think is right. Some writers are more comfortable lumping compounds together than others. Some people think dashes look messy. Note, however, that whether or not you choose to style the compound into one or two words may convey something about your familiarity with the word (or lack thereof). An unnamed dictionary a bit infamous for showing up from scratch Website long after most of the civilized world had used website. In the end, they got wiser.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
