Apparently there is soon to be a new “Shorter Oxford English Dictionary” where they have dropped the hyphens out of about 16,000 words. Upon reading the article I was a little curious since being an American of course I write my words a little differently as compared the British. So I wasn’t surprised that many of the words that they have “Dropped the Hyphen” I’ve used without hyphens pretty much all of my life. Here’s some examples that I’m talking of:
Here are some words that they dropped the hyphen from but kept the words separate. Those with an star by them I’ve always used this way Those with a ? are ones I’ve never used (or never heard of before). Those with a ! I use as one word.
*fig leaf
!hobby horse. I don’t have a horse hobby therefore no hobby horse. My son does have a hobbyhorse however.
!ice cream. What Ice with Cream :YUCK: I do however like Icecream.
?pin money. Have no clue
!pot belly. I have a potbelly.
*test tube
!water bed. I have slept in a waterbed.
Here are some words that they dropped the hyphen from joined them together. Those with an star by them I’ve always used this way Those with a ? are ones I’ve never used (or never heard of before). Those with a ! I use as separate words.
*bumblebee
*chickpea
*crybaby
*leapfrog
?logjam, nope I’ve always seen this as a log jam.
*lowlife
*pigeonhole
*touchline
*waterborne, although normally without the ending e
Now many of you English purists are going to scream, “THAT’S NOT CORRECT ENGLISH!” All I can say to you is that the English Language is evolving. Ever since the English colonists decided to part themselves from the rest of England the language has branched. While the English used in the American or Australian branches are not the original branch, they are still a valid form of English and you should recognize it as such.
