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please post some supporting facts regarding your claims!
That's a new one:
Removal of the corpus, leaving the cervix in situ.
subtotal -- 14,800,000
"sub-total" -- 4,380,000 ("sub-total" also matches "sub total")
I always go with what people use most. Who cares what's "correct" according to the dictionary. Dictionaries are composed according to how people speak. Language adopts. Maybe it was sub total long ago. Then people droped the space and it became just subtotal.
Take E-mail for example. For many years it was hyphenated, but now more people use it without the hyphen than with. Because it's annoying to type in "-" every time.
but i'm going with: subtotal
why waste a bite!
anyway I would say subtitle.
Well, I'd go with the OED on this one. If I can find the word in the dictionary I use that version. Sub-zero and sub-aqua get a hyphen. Subgroup, subheading, subtotal and subhuman don't. Sub-plot, well, yeah. ;)
I enjoy the logomachy, but it is a safe bet to side with the OED. And as for logomachy, I use that if we're fighting about words, and flyting if we're fighting with words. Those 16th-century Scottish poets were excellent flyters, though they may have suffered from logorrhea.
In any event, adding a hyphen won't get you accused of murdering the language unless you run across the likes of John Dryden. He seemed to think he knew exactly where all the jots and tittles were supposed to be. John Hopkins and Thomas Sternhold didn't agree, but that should give you some insight into how far back logomachy goes, and how difficult it is to gain universal acceptance for matters regarding spelling and word meanings...
Originally it was sub total
as the term got more common it became sub-total
finally, as common usage it became one word subtotal
Check some old dictionaries and you will see most common two word descriptions become one word.
interesting...
when will <snip> earn it's dash and eventually become one?
[edited by: lawman at 7:24 pm (utc) on Sep. 22, 2005]
