It took me a moment to parse that it's the "smart-home graveyard", not the "smart home-graveyard" that's getting crowded!
Apparently hyphens seem to have gone out of fashion. Please can we bring them back?
When you use a compound word like that as an attributive (before-the-noun) adjective it’s common to hyphenate it. Precisely to clarify this kind of situation.
So the defunct smart-home devices from your smart home end up in the smart-home graveyard.
Same goes for man-eating lions and high-net-worth individuals.
Don't expect to see a Verge article written with something like a New Yorker style handbook in mind. It's hard enough for them to get all the facts correct.
They do claim to have a style guide and employ copy editors: <a href="https://transwork.org/jobs/copy-editor-verge" rel="nofollow">https://transwork.org/jobs/copy-editor-verge
Even though I've spoken fluent English for decades, it's still only my second language and I'm always learning new things about it!
Personally I had never thought of "smart home" as a compound word, but rather as a qualifier and a noun. It's a home that happens to be smart. Similar to "blue sky", or "hot dishes". In my mind neither of those would be hyphenated.
It's different from "man-eating", since that's not an eating that happens to be man, so in fact the whole word only makes sense as a unit in any sentence that would use it.
scoot · · focus · HN ↗
Apparently hyphens seem to have gone out of fashion. Please can we bring them back?
cassianoleal · · focus · HN ↗
etskinner · · focus · HN ↗
jameshart · · focus · HN ↗
So the defunct smart-home devices from your smart home end up in the smart-home graveyard.
Same goes for man-eating lions and high-net-worth individuals.
fg137 · · focus · HN ↗
jameshart · · focus · HN ↗
fg137 · · focus · HN ↗
I'll put it this way -- I listen to them for general entertainment but not for information.
cassianoleal · · focus · HN ↗
Even though I've spoken fluent English for decades, it's still only my second language and I'm always learning new things about it!
Personally I had never thought of "smart home" as a compound word, but rather as a qualifier and a noun. It's a home that happens to be smart. Similar to "blue sky", or "hot dishes". In my mind neither of those would be hyphenated.
It's different from "man-eating", since that's not an eating that happens to be man, so in fact the whole word only makes sense as a unit in any sentence that would use it.
Clearly, I need to adapt my understanding! :)
jameshart · · focus · HN ↗
cassianoleal · · focus · HN ↗
jameshart · · focus · HN ↗
pjc50 · · focus · HN ↗
That's when you put a QR code on a tombstone.
joelfried · · focus · HN ↗