Website or Web Site? 2

[Dimandja]

This is listed as the official Vatican web site.

While this the official olympics website.

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[craigsboyd]

Six of one, half dozen of another?

http://www.sweetpotatosoftware.com

 

[PennyB]

I'd go for website, but I'm not sure why....

 

[SQLSister]

What I do know is that it is not websight which is how my project mamanger spells it.

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[jebenson]

e-mail or email?

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[Genimuse]

Back when people thought of things like "ftp site" and "gopher site" and "web site" as being new and important things, the word separation made sense. Today I find it unnecessary, and though MS Word 2k doesn't like it, "website" is nice and clean.

I'm also a fan of "email" over "e-mail," since the latter isn't making anything more clear, at least not to me. Since it's really a contraction, perhaps we should be calling it "e'mail."

 

[CajunCenturion]

On the question of e-mail vs email, there is some linguistic thought that can be brought to bear to further confuse the issue. The notion of an "initial based term" as the combination of two words is not new with E-mail (electronic mail).

Other similar terms include G-string, A-frame, A-bomb and H-bomb, L-shaped, O-ring, I-beam, T-bill, and U-joint to name a few. These are all having difficulty evolving into single words, and it is also interesting to note that the single letter has generally remained capitalized. That could be used to support E-mail as opposed to e-mail.

There is also a pronunciation issue as by standard rules, email should be pronounced with a soft 'e' as in 'ehmail', which also favors retaining the initial based form 'e-mail'. This thought can also be applied to some of the other vowel initial terms.

I have also read about objections to email because of the French word email, which I believe translates as enamel. I defer to our French speaking associates to shed more light on that situation and/or objection, if it really exists.

On the flip side, there is X-ray which has a similar identify crisis to its spelling and construction.

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[AnotherHiggins]

CC,

Have any words successfully made the jump from initial based term to single word? I suppose I could look for examples myself, but you seem familiar with it. Besides, I'm really lazy (lay-z).

[tt]-John[/tt]
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[CajunCenturion]

Good question anotherhiggins and off the top of my head, I don't know of any.

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[CajunCenturion]

==> Website or web site?

Either is correct.

Compound words are generally broken into two classifications: temporary and permanent. Once a compound word becomes permanent, then it is usually hyphenated (web-site), or combined into a single word (website). With respect to hyphenated compounds, the trend is that as the popularity and usage of the word increases, the liklihood of using a hyphen decreases.

Given that this term is both permanent and popular, I would opt for the single 'website'.

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[GwydionM]

Have any words successfully made the jump from initial based term to single word?

Yes, Jeep, GP, General Purpose Vehicle.

As for website, it is the natural usage. 18th century books spoke of twi-light, Michael Angelo and Des Cartes.

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[Genimuse]

G-string, A-frame, A-bomb and H-bomb, L-shaped, O-ring, I-beam, T-bill, and U-joint

Most of those are not similar to email. With A-frame, L-shaped, O-ring, I-beam, and U-joint, the initials don't stand for anything, but are rather descriptions of the shape. I'm not sure about G-string, but would certainly agree that A-bomb, H-bomb, and T-bill are similar.

Which brings me to D-Day, which does seem to have a hyphen, and VE Day and VJ Day, which do not. I guess the extra initial spoils the fun.

 

[CajunCenturion]

That's a good point Genimuse.

An initial based term is a two part construction, where the first part is a letter and the second part is the base word. The initial letter does not have to be an abbreviation, nor is there always a hyphen -- it can be a space -- between the initial and the base word.

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[AnotherHiggins]

GwydionM,

Good point. I don't think GP Vehicle turning into Jeep is quite the same, but close.

Genimuse,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the 'U' in U Joint stand for 'Universal'?

[tt]-John[/tt]
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[Genimuse]

You're right about U for Universal.

 

[pcdude1]

What about anti-virus vs. antivirus? I was hired in the late 1990's by a large company as their "Antivirus Coordinator". That's how I always typed it. But some spell checkers say it's incorrect. Oddly enough Word 2000 spell checker is fine with both versions.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Compound words that are formed by the addition of a prefix are usually not hyphonated, unless the word falls into one of several categories, such as
[li]Joining with a proper noun (anti-Semetic)[/li]
[li]Joining with a number (pre-1900)[/li]
[li]Confusion with a simple word (un-ionized vs unionized)[/li]
[li]Hard to visualize for pronunciation purposes (coopted : co-opted, prolife : pro-life, or prochoice : pro-choice)[/li]
I can see where the last rule might come into play for antivirus, so I think it could go either way.

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