Hyphenation Conventions

Subject: Hyphenation Conventions
From: Lisa Higgins <lisa -at- DRDDO1 -dot- EI -dot- LUCENT -dot- COM>
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 09:02:06 +0000

Virginia Krenn wrote

> Personally, I prefer the American Heritage dictionary. It uses E-mail as
> indicated below.
>
> electronic mail noun
> Computer Science.
> Messages sent and received electronically via telecommunication links, as
> between microcomputers or terminals. Also called E-mail.

Newly-coined words generally start out as two words, then hyphenate,
then become a single word. (E.g., to morrow, to-morrow, tomorrow)

Personally, I try to stay ahead of the curve if I'm reasonably sure
that the word is common enough that everyone will understand it. I
don't want to run the risk of my user manuals looking quaint in a
couple of years.

Also, 'email' is easier to type (maybe the reason for the
convention).

Lisa Higgins.
lhiggins -at- lucent -dot- com

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