TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
>
> ever so feminine
>
> OR
>
> ever-so feminine.
>
> I cast my vote as no hyphen. I need support. Thoughts??
>
I agree with you, Chris, and I'll give you an explanation why.
If memory serves, the use of the hyphenated compound adjective is
reserved for times when the removal of the second word would change the
meaning of the first word. I want to say this comes from Strunk & White,
but I'm not entirely certain of the source.
Ex: "knee-jerk reaction." In this instance, if you were to remove the
word "jerk" the phrase "knee reaction" would have a huge difference of
meaning from "knee-jerk reaction."
In the instance you give, "ever feminine" and "ever so feminine" do not
have completely different meanings; the addition of "so" simply adds a
degree to the meaning.
Hope this helps...
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail may contain information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail, purge it and do not disseminate or copy it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Now Shipping -- WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word! Easily create online
Help. And online anything else. Redesigned interface with a new
project-based workflow. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Doc-To-Help 2005 now has RoboHelp Converter and HTML Source: Author
content and configure Help in MS Word or any HTML editor. No
proprietary editor! *August release. http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot-
