David Coombe5d ago
I’ve been noticing more novel compound words. I just saw “freewill” in a book. My 1985 Macquarie Dictionary (AU) has entries only for “free will” and “free-will”. Is this a shift of a computer age? Maybe I see these compounds most in news headlines? Checking now I see a headline about “sunscreen” - and I’m surprised to find it’s not even mentioned in my old Macquarie! Nor is “sun-block”. Another in today’s news is “ceasefire” which has a hyphen in Macquarie. I wonder if hyphens drop out over time. #EnglishUsage
Show threadDonald Hobern5d ago

@david_coombe_cbr

It's a pretty standard trend. The sequence from two words to hyphenated-word to oneword seems like it just naturally tracks the degree to which the referenced concept is recognised as a thing by the speakers.

If I say "sunscreen" I'm not thinking of it as a screen against the sun so much as just sunscreen.

I think it's just a natural drift that is only temporarily slowed by the friction of convention.

Show threadChery (Great Australian Pods)4d ago
@dhobern @david_coombe_cbr I seem to have reached the stage where I sometimes dither over whether to hyphenate or not. For me it's more of a visual decision which seems somewhat odd?
Show threadDavid Coombe4d ago
@cheryanne @dhobern Similar here. I’ve found myself writing compounded words that first feel right but then realise are wrong. Donald’s natural drift explanation makes sense - we tend to simplification. Is “visual” aesthetic or more intuition?
Show threadChery (Great Australian Pods)4d ago
@david_coombe_cbr more aesthetically pleasing usually although sometimes something will just look right. @dhobern
Show threadDroppie [infosec] 🐨    ​4d ago
@cheryanne @david_coombe_cbr @dhobern i'm all for it looking aesthetically ok, but there is a line... if it ever looks merkan, then i'm dead-set agin it! 😱️
Show threadChery (Great Australian Pods)
@MsDropbear42 we know 😂 @david_coombe_cbr @dhobern
Mar 26 at 7:24pmWeb