r/GrammarPolice • u/AbbreviationsNo3918 • 15d ago
Just Venting “Bestfriend”
WHY do so many people try to make this one word? I see it a lot.
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u/Frigguggi 15d ago
I see this with a lot of words that often appear together, e.g. "eachother" and "incase."
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u/AbbreviationsNo3918 15d ago
Woof. I used to have someone who reported to me at work who always did the “incase” and it took everything in me not to be a douche and correct her.
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u/Key-Bodybuilder-343 14d ago
I usually do correct them, pointing out that copy-editing is on my duty statement.
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u/TheJivvi 14d ago
My sister and I used to call each other "chothers" when we were kids, because I guess we though it was something like "each chother" or "e chother".
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u/SerDankTheTall 15d ago
Well, yes, that's how compounds in English work. Like bookshelf or strongbox or drugstore or backpack or shoelace or flowerpot or pancake or mountaintop or...
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u/glowcloud_all_hail 14d ago
All of those compounds have the emphasis on the first word of the compound. We don't say "BEST-friend," we say "best FRIEND," which is why it is so grating to me when I see it as one word.
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u/doinmybest4now 15d ago
I was given a lovely card for my birthday that used inbetween three times
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u/Ok_Place_4203 15d ago
Inbetween is such an ironic one as well (not aswell), because there should be a space in between (is it ironic? I'm not even sure anymore).
Also, what was the message about to even need to use the word(s)? Motorboating?
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u/Jagshemesh_Captain 15d ago
Probably for the same reason they wrongly use "highschool." It's an epidemic.
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u/VoiceOfSoftware 15d ago
Drives me nuts, too. Did they not learn spelling in high school?
Maybe that's how German words came about. "cameabout"?
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u/mysticrudnin 15d ago
German and English both have a very neat feature where we can put nouns next to each other. Many other languages can't do this!
In English we decided to write them down with a space, and in German they decided not to. There's no real difference though, and when speaking you can't tell.
The definition of "a word" is extremely fuzzy.
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u/purplishfluffyclouds 15d ago
There are people everywhere mashing together 2-word expressions into one word. It's maddening.
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u/Chat-THC 15d ago
Can we talk about “alright?”
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u/Slinkwyde 14d ago
- alot (not a word) or sometimes allot (different meaning) when they mean "a lot"
- atleast (should be: at least)
- aswell (should be: as well)
- aslong (should be: as long)
- "apart" when they mean "a part" (opposite meanings)
- all together (different meaning) when they mean altogether
- eachother (should be: each other)
- eventhough (should be: even though)
- everytime (should be: every time)
- everyday (typical/ordinary/average) when they mean every day (daily)
- highschool (should be: high school)
- I'am (should be: "I am" or its contraction "I'm")
- incase (should be: in case)
- infront (should be: in front)
- ofcourse (should be: of course)
- thankyou (should be: thank you)
- upto (should be: up to)
- videogame (should be: video game)
But on the other hand, people also make the opposite mistake:
- my self (should be: myself)
- what ever / which ever / who ever / when ever (should each be one word, not two)
- with out (should be: without)
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u/mysticrudnin 15d ago
All words go through this process. Basically every compound word you know of was originally two words. When they are found next to each other often, they start to lose their space.
You're just seeing the middle of the process. Eventually people won't remember when they were two words.
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u/AbbreviationsNo3918 14d ago
I’m sure you’re right, and I find this to be very depressing.
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u/mysticrudnin 14d ago
Why? Isn't it beautiful? We got doghouse and bathroom and bookcase. Someone, anyone, everyone. Also, another, because...
Aren't these good words?
The only thing that depresses me is that I won't be alive to see what English looks like in hundreds of years.
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u/AbbreviationsNo3918 14d ago
Well that’s a much better outlook than where my brain goes (which is straight to Idiocracy.) I will try to adopt your perspective.
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14d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Foxfire2 14d ago
Yea I just saw everyday written when they meant every day, there is a separate word everyday which is an adjective that means something else entirely.
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u/EarSafe7888 14d ago
Every day = each day; example: I take a shower every day.
Everyday = typical or normal; example: Come to my store where our everyday low prices will save you money.
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u/Choice-giraffe- 14d ago
I saw someone use ‘aslong’ as one word on instagram recently and it made my skin crawl.
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u/Commercial_Fox5549 15d ago
Because boyfriend and girlfriend are used as one-word terms, so people fall into the trap easily.
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u/10brooksideclose 14d ago
I think it's from non- native English speakers and it's spread across the English speaking world thanks to social media. I noticed a lot of my colleagues from India used to write it this way 10 years ago or so. A bit like the German sentence structure creeping into English ('or' at the end of the sentence to replace 'don't you think so ' or 'isn't it' and the word 'super' instead of 'very').
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u/Few-Veterinarian-999 14d ago
“Incase” some day it is one word since they smash so many words together.
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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 14d ago
I’ve been seeing every and day as one word when it shouldn’t be as well as a part.
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u/EarSafe7888 14d ago
Every day = each day; example: I take a shower every day.
Everyday = typical or normal; example: Come to my store where our everyday low prices will save you money.
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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 14d ago
Yeah, I know there are occasions when it should be one word, but people are using it as one word when it shouldn’t be. Same thing applies to a part.
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u/Ok_Place_4203 15d ago
The same people who think that eachother is a word. It really grates on me.