On 15 May 2015, The Wanderer wrote: > On 05/15/2015 at 07:35 AM, Chris Bannister wrote: > > > On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 09:16:17AM +0100, Anthony Campbell wrote: > > >> Since we're well off-topic already, I can't resist citing a rather > >> similar and increasingly prevalent negative usage that makes no > >> sense. I quite often read the phrase: "the importance of this > >> cannot be underestimated". It should, of course, be OVER-estimated, > >> or alternatively "must not be under-estimated". I think the two > >> usages have > > > > Nooooo! Why does it need a hyphen? > > To help indicate that you're separating out (and thus focusing on) the > first half of the compound word, while still indicating that you're > using the compound word rather than (incorrectly) the matching two-word > phrase. > > > What is it with all these hyphens that people are sticking between > > words these days? > > I can't speak to all of them, but in a large fraction of cases, they're > extremely helpful for communicating the way in which you intend words to > group together. [snip]
Agreed. And it isn't "these days"; in fact, in earlier times people used hyphens more than they do now. But I think the fashion pendulum is beginning to swing back (and it's largely a question of fashion). But not entirely fashion. Omitting hyphens can sometimes cause the reader to check momentarily, a kind of mental stumble. E.g. the hyphen in the subject line of this thread is useful; "misusages" would be confusing. It's a question of courtesy to readers. AC AC -- Anthony Campbell http://www.acampbell.uk -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/20150515144034.gg18...@ithaca.acampbell.uk
