A Handout About Compound Words

A Handout About Compound Words A Handout About Compound Words A Handout About Compound Words By Mark Nichol Recently, this text for an online ad caught my attention: â€Å"All she asked for was a hand-up, not a hand out.† What struck me was that the copywriter, though I give him or her credit for a clever turn of phrase that pivots on the contrast in meaning between two idioms starting with the root word hand, erred not once but twice in treating those compounds: The sentence should have read, â€Å"All she asked for was a hand up, not a handout.† Why? What’s the difference between open, hyphenated, and closed compounds? This compound error illustrates the distinction. Most compound words start out as two words: Someone introduces an idiom- for example, â€Å"We will hand free tickets out† (or, more colloquially, â€Å"We will hand out free tickets†). Then, as the more informal variant of this idiom becomes commonplace, people begin to describe such an action as a hand-out. Over time, the now-ubiquitous compound word is treated as a closed compound: handout. Exceptions exist, however. Some compound words skip the intermediary hyphenation stage, while others never graduate to it; sometimes, the treatment varies for different words with the same second element: For example, the noun makeup evolved from make-up, but mix-up remains hyphenated, though its form may eventually change. However, of the more than one hundred compound words and their variations that begin with hand, none are hyphenated. (Temporary compounds serving as phrasal adjectives, such as in the phrase â€Å"hand-picked successor,† are another matter.) So, why isn’t the compound â€Å"hand up† a hyphenated or closed compound? Well, it’s not a compound; it never evolved to that status (we don’t speak or write about a thing called a handup), and it remains simply a noun followed by a preposition. Handout, on the other hand, is a compound noun, though it remains open when employed as a verb phrase, as in the original example (â€Å"We will hand out free tickets†). But shouldn’t the contrasting terms in the ad copy be parallel? Not at all- after all, this is English, a highly flexible language, we’re talking about. The woman pictured in the ad is asking for a hand up- a figurative boost- not for something handed out. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Punctuate References to Dates and Times50 Idioms About Meat and Dairy Products3 Types of Essays Are Models for Professional Writing Forms

The eNotes Blog Louise Erdrich Read toLive

Louise Erdrich Read toLive On Monday the 16th a couple of us went to see Louise Erdrich give a reading from her new novel, LaRose, out now in hardcover from HarperCollins. This novel is set in Ojibwe territory in  North Dakota and draws inspiration from a story Erdrichs mother told her about a family who shared their son  with the parents of a child theyd accidentally killed. LaRose, the young boy who is given to the wronged family in Erdrichs novel,  is the fifth of his name, the favorite child of his father, Landreaux. Hes a spiritual boy who communes with his ancestors and has a strong relationship with the young girl Maggie, who thinks hes a saint. When we saw her, Erdrich read two passages about Maggie, one a harrowing passage of violence narrowly escaped, the other a tense yet hilarious account of a  volleyball game Maggies team wins. After the reading, the audience had the opportunity to ask questions about where Erdrich draws  inspiration for  her novels  (from her rich heritage and her a ncestors), how she feels about the education system on reservations  (we need to celebrate Native American teachers and build more immersion schools where children can learn traditional Native American languages), and  what books she would recommend (works by Tracy K. Smith, Marlon James, and Ocean Vuong, among others). Win a Signed Copy of Love Medicine! We were lucky enough to meet Erdrich briefly and get a signed copy of one of her most popular books,  Love Medicine. Since this book is often taught in high school, we thought we would give a student a chance to win this autographed copy of  Love Medicine, which includes a personalized message from Erdrich herself: Read to love. Its good advice for readers of any age. Check out the inscription below, and let us know  in the comments,  on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram if you want this special copy. Well pick one lucky eNoter at random. Many thanks to Town Hall Seattle and Elliott Bay for sponsoring the event and letting us attend!

First-hand experience of developing a market entry and a product Assignment

First-hand experience of developing a market entry and a product launch strategy for an international market - Assignment Example Launching a new effective pharmaceutical drug will take much time due to a long process of clinical trials. Moreover, for any Mexican company it will be difficult to enter the competition with other Latin American and North American pharmaceutical companies on equal positions. So it is possible to concentrate on cosmeceuticals and nutraceuticals, the sectors of pharmaceuticals, which have not been universally recognized yet but are extremely promising. Cosmeceuticals incorporates cosmetics and pharmaceuticals and produces cosmetic products (lotions, creams) with biologically active ingredients, such as anti-oxidants, peptides, enzymes, that can be medically beneficial to humans. There also exist pharmaceutical technology companies, which have special subdivisions specializing in cosmeceuticals. Nutraceuticals is a blend of nutrition and pharmaceutical implying products which give certain therapeutic effect and can potentially aid in diseases treatment or prevention (Kalra 1). Such pr oducts as dietary supplements and functional food are usually referred to nutraceuticals. In Latin America the market of â€Å"healthy ingredients† is developed on the retailer levels. Plants, leaves, roots, seeds are popular among locals as they are perceived as ethnic and natural. Local home-made oils, powders, and extracts from these valuable plants are also demanded due to their easy access and low price (Lajolo 2). The products that would be optimal to launch can be dietary supplements received from local Latin American plants, such as asai, guava, camu-camu and others, which are not recognized in the world but are well-known to the regional consumers (Lajolo 3). All these plants are not examined thoroughly but even preliminary research suggests that they have huge potential. Certain subdivision of pharmaceutical company can arrange scientific research and manufacture of these products. Among the variety of dietary supplements I would advise to dwell on