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step-mother or stepmother?

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Comments

  • LizyLizy
    Of course - why didin't I remember that?

    Must be the beer.
  • CarolCarol
    Mrs is a contraction of Mistress.
  • Lou TreleavenLou Treleaven
    E.g., st. = street (it contains the first and second letters of the word street)
    Or the first and last?

  • OnlinegenieOnlinegenie
    Yes. I suspect there's some obscure linguistic rule that says which takes precedence in a case like this.
  • LizyLizy
    E.g., st. = street (it contains the first and second letters of the word street)
    Or the first and last?

    My vote is for first and last as in road = rd

  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    It was so much easier back in the Stone Age.
  • LizLiz
    Swhy many do not want to be called by it.
  • heatherheather
    I've been called worse!
  • Stan2Stan2
    Should co-operation have a hyphen? I was asked to take an assembly on this theme. I defined it as working together. The COD says that it is correct with or without the hyphen. The head teacher said that both spellings were displayed in the school. Isn't this confusing for the children? Two of the children knew how to spell the word.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Historically not, Stan. From its Latin roots through French and Middle English there was no hyphen. It can be spelt either way now. I'd have thought the school would stick to one way or the other to avoid confusion, but maybe they can't decide?
  • Stan2Stan2
    Perhaps not!
  • LizyLizy
    Does daughter-in-law have hyphens or spaces?
  • LizLiz
    Hyphens. Dictionaries! They always reveal stuff like this. Or an editors dictionary.
  • ClaudiaClaudia
    edited June 2014
    Hyphens. Dictionaries! They always reveal stuff like this. Or an editors dictionary.
    Too true - trouble is all my precious books are in storage until we move to West Cork: have been for ages and it's a complete pain in the you-know-what!

    (Umm, should that have been hyphenated?)

  • LizyLizy
    Yes :)
  • OnlinegenieOnlinegenie
    Should co-operation have a hyphen?
    I always write it with a hyphen. A young child encountering co-operate immediately knows to pronounce the o's separately. Show that same child cooperate and they might think they've found a verb that describes the craft of a barrel maker.

  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    OLG, how many children know what a cooper is? You must mix with an educated lot!
  • MarkHempshellMarkHempshell
    If I could just wade into this :D

    Cooperate and co-operate both seem right. But co-ordinate never looks right as coordinate (or does it?) while cohabit never looks right as co-habit.

    Isn't the use of hyphens mainly a matter of using whichever makes your intention clear to the reader?
  • OnlinegenieOnlinegenie
    Co-ordinate - general use
    coordinate - used in maths or physics.

    Can't remember where I read that rule, but if I find out I'll let you know.
  • Stan2Stan2
    Should co-operation have a hyphen?
    I always write it with a hyphen. A young child encountering co-operate immediately knows to pronounce the o's separately. Show that same child cooperate and they might think they've found a verb that describes the craft of a barrel maker.

    Would a chid know what a cooper is?
  • LizyLizy
    Not unless someone told her - or she looked it up - but then how many adults would know these days?
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