I think this is one big can of worms with all the fun of one-space
versus two-spaces after a full stop.
I'm with you on e-mail, but I also realize that it is very common to
see it the other way. My personal rule is to hyphenate all e-words
unless they are a company or product name. My rationale is that I
can't think of any hyphenated word that has morphed to no hyphen. For
example, O-Ring, X-Ray....
All that said, I am an itinerant tech writer/instructional designer,
so I have to be sensitive to the prevailing use of my current client.
I think it is far more important that you are consistent in the use,
then be "right" in this case.
Just don't get me started on 'e-mails'... :-)
Bryan
On 7/17/06, Jones, Donna <DJones -at- zebra -dot- com> wrote:
I don't know why, but the abbreviation "email" instead of "e-mail" bugs
me, though I know that both are common.
When I see the two parts merged together without the hyphen, my brain
pronounces the word with a short E. In other words, email and emperor
start with the same sound. I think I also put the emphasis on the second
syllable, which makes it sound even more ridiculous. Capitalizing the E
helps me a little if the word doesn't fall at the beginning of a
sentence.
So am I totally insane? 8-) (Wait, don't answer that!)
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