Notes & asides.* Dear Mr. Buckley: No one challenged a headline in your Sept. 1 issue: "The Kids Aren't Alright." My not-so-new Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary snarls, "The form ALRIGHT, though often used, is not recognized by authorities as proper." Have the authorities relented? Sincerely, Arlene Hamm Fishkill, N.Y. * Dear Ms. Hamm: No, nor have we. The word (alright) was used to make a point. I would tell you what that point was, if I remembered it. Cordially, WFB WFB Warhammer: Fantasy Battle (game) WFB World Fellowship of Buddhists WFB Wells Fargo Bank WFB William Frank Buckley (founder and editor of National Review Magazine) WFB WorkFlow Builder * Dear Mr. Buckley: I enjoyed the cover article (April 7) on neoconservatives (or neo-conservatives?), but the editing really confused and distracted me. Most uses of the word "neoconservative ne·o·con·ser·va·tism also ne·o-con·ser·va·tism n. An intellectual and political movement in favor of political, economic, and social conservatism that arose in opposition to the perceived liberalism of the 1960s: ," including the cover blurb blurb n. A brief publicity notice, as on a book jacket. [Coined by Gelett Burgess (1866-1951), American humorist.] blurb v. , were spelled without a hyphen hyphen: see punctuation. . At least one use inside the article clearly contained a hyphen. Many others were ambiguous, as the hyphen was there, but the word was broken across lines, so it wasn't clear whether the hyphen was there by reason of spelling or line break. I almost concluded that the one instance of a clearly hyphenated hy·phen·at·ed adj. 1. Having a hyphen: a hyphenated adjective. 2. Often Offensive Of or relating to naturalized citizens or their descendants or culture. usage was simply a mistake, when I hit the sentence referring to "hyphenated conservatives." That jumped out and smacked me in the eye! It certainly made the meaning unclear, as some other flavors of "hyphenated conservatives" were indeed hyphenated in the text, but some were not. Just who ARE those hyphenated folks? And what does that hyphenization mean? Comments? I don't recall this subject being covered in depth in my English classes, and I am quite uncertain on the issue. What are your rules re hyphenation Breaking words that extend beyond the right margin. Software hyphenates words by matching them against a hyphenation dictionary or by using a built-in set of rules, or both. See discretionary hyphen. ? (Or is it hyphenization? My dictionary lists both words, but does not distinguish between them. I admit that sometimes one word just "feels better" than the other, but I cannot articulate why.) Regards, June F. Smith Kingston, N.Y. Dear Ms. Smith: Here is one sentence on the subject from The Chicago Manual of Style (7.84). More on the subject is there which you can consult ad lib An earlier sound card from Ad Lib, Inc., Quebec City, that, for a while, was the de facto standard for synthesized background music for computer games. It was a precursor to the MIDI standard. . Meanwhile: "The trend toward closed compounds. With frequent use, open or hyphenated compounds tend to become closed (on line to on-line to online). Chicago's [i.e., The Chicago Manual of Style, to which NR mostly adheres] general adherence to Webster [Webster's Dictionary Webster's Dictionary - Hypertext interface. gives its own choices in the matter of hyphenation of individual compound words] does not preclude occasional exceptions [taken by Chicago] when the closed spellings have become widely accepted, pronunciation and readability are not at stake, and keystrokes can be saved." Cordially, WFB * Dear Mr. Buckley: In Spytime, "John McCone John Alexander McCone (January 4, 1902 - February 14, 1991) was an American businessman and politician who served as Director of Central Intelligence during the height of the Cold War. ... always managed to travel on the other side of the Beltway." Was the Beltway built when this takes place, in 1961? And if so, was there a distinction at that time on who was inside or outside the Beltway? Bennett B. Smith Wilmington, Del. Dear Mr. Smith: Good question, raising the larger question of anachronistic a·nach·ro·nism n. 1. The representation of someone as existing or something as happening in other than chronological, proper, or historical order. 2. opportunizing, e.g. "the slums of Rome," "the jet-speed of the King's couriers." We'll have to think about that one! Cordially, WFB * Dear Mr. Buckley: At the Catholic Mass there is the phrase: "Only say the Word and I shall be healed." I believe the proper wording, noting Who will be the Sayer, is: "Only say the Word and I will be healed." Comment? Sincerely yours, John E. Reith Wilmington, Del. Dear Mr. Reith: You make a good and interesting point. Thanks, --WFB |
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