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Joined: Oct 2010
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stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 1 |
Hi everybody.
I have a question about spelling that I don't seem to be able to resolve. I have been writing whole-wheat and whole-grain, when used as adjectives, with an hyphen, and the dictionary I have on my Mac supports this.
However, around the web I see a lot more often "whole wheat" and "whole grain" and don't seem to be able to find a resolution as to which version is correct.
Even on the NYTimes site, I can see "whole wheat" besides "whole-wheat".
Can any of you help me directly or recommend a source where I can finally find an answer to my question?
Thank you in advance for your help with this "whole" matter.
Simona
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,945 Likes: 3
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,945 Likes: 3 |
WELCOME, SIMONA
Someone will be able to help, I'm sure.
----please, draw me a sheep----
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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Any given publication may have a style guide that will dictate which form to use for articles published in that publication. Other than that, with no recognized authority stating the proper use of the language, it's up to the individual. BTW, your Mac dictionary has no idea whether the use of the word(s) in question is as an adjective.
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Joined: Feb 2008
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 876 |
The Macs don't have a grammar check? I thought they did. The Word versions always suck, to me, anyway. Often wrong, but somewhat useful on occasion....
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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I wouldn't think anyone has a grammar checker that's worth anything. One of my favorite games was taking one of those little things someone would hack together that had a whole list of homonyms that would make sense if the right words were there. "Eye sea ewe" for "I see you" for example, but more extensive. You feed it to a spell checker and it finds no problems. I would feed it to a grammar checker and find that it spotted very few problems.
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Joined: Sep 2010
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Sep 2010
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and also I see some places, the words strung together with out the hyphen like youtube and thankyou and I've seen wholegrain that way too.
ihadanemailonce...withallthewordsjoinedtogetherandafterabitiwasabltoreaditnoproblems.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
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welcome, Simona! kind of like baseball, isn't it? things change, and there is no write or wrong... 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Jun 2006
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
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Welcome, what always struck me as funny is 'whole wheat rice'.
While maybe to be correct we should say whole grain rice. People found a way out by calling it "brown rice" which still is not quite true as the color isn't real brown but kind of sandy.
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Joined: Aug 2005
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
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'whole wheat rice'
Is this a back-formation from the Double Dutch? But seriously, I had never heard of whole-wheat rice, but a quick minute spin of the Web via Google proves me to have led a sheltered life. I guess, it makes no never-mind that wheat originally meant a grain of any cereal.
As for the hyphenated or non-hyphenated, both spaced and spaceless. Shrug.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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FWIW, you might find less potential for ambiguity with the hyphenated version.
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