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Subject:Re: Hyphenation rule of thumb From:Erik Harris <ewh -at- PLAZA -dot- DS -dot- ADP -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 14 Oct 1994 17:42:56 -0800
Richard Mateosian quoted:
>>According to my IBM dictionary, real-time is hyphenated, but it's
>>listed there only as an adjective
...then said:
>I vote for realtime.
>Richard's rule of thumb: If it started as two words and you can now find a
>reference that says it should be hyphenated, it's time to start spelling it
>solid.
>Yes, I can think of exceptions. ...RM
>Richard Mateosian Technical Writer in Berkeley CA srm -at- c2 -dot- org
After a day or so of cogitation, I have decided respectfully to disagree
with Richard's rule of thumb.
As I understand it, hyphenating compound attributive nouns is one of the
English language's really *good* rules. The rule has fallen into disfavor
in newspapers--not that newspapers were ever a great standard for exemplary
grammar--and even in classrooms, but there isn't much of an excuse for it.
(Imagine seeing the term "real time process" in a science-news article for
general readers. What exactly is meant by the phrase? Authentic time
process? Or
a process that takes place in real-time? The hyphen does a lot of work
towards making the writer's intent clear.)
I'm digressing. My larger point is that we ought not compress common
hyphenated terms too soon in their evolution. The proper spelling of the
term (i.e., with a hyphen) is a clue to its origin for readers who have not
encountered it before, and there are many such readers born every day. Let
the term enjoy its special status for 50 years or more, to see if it
becomes so commonplace as a concept *and* a term that it is justifiably
compressed into a single word. Feedback has been around since 1920--it's
earned its place and is now used in many fields, not just machinery and
computers. Real-time has less tenure and is still, by and large, a computer
user's or physicist's term. Richard finds a reference that says to
hyphenate a term, so he wants to defy the reference and combine them?
Patience--let the world catch up to the jargon.
-------------------------------
Quod erat demonstrandum
Erik Harris
ewh -at- plaza -dot- ds -dot- adp -dot- com (weekdays)
TrinityPlc -at- aol -dot- com (home)
