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Forums => English & Linguistics => Topic started by: Neutros the Radioactive Dragon on December 07, 2004, 04:20:11 PM

Title: RE: Reexamine
Post by: Neutros the Radioactive Dragon on December 07, 2004, 04:20:11 PM
I'm typing up our companies quarterly newsletter, and just ran across this:

Re-examine.

Now, my first instinct is to say that re is only a prefix, and does not need to be hyphenated.  But Word accepts that spelling.  To make matters more confusing, Word also accepts reexamine.

Which is it? :huh:  
Title: RE: Reexamine
Post by: Icarus on December 07, 2004, 04:49:56 PM
Reexamine.

 :thecheat:  
Title: RE: Reexamine
Post by: Neutros the Radioactive Dragon on December 07, 2004, 04:52:14 PM
My thoughts exactly.

Thanks.
Title: RE: Reexamine
Post by: Jonathon the Dragonator on December 07, 2004, 05:01:58 PM
Word's spell checker is not to be trusted. If in doubt, look it up in Merriam-Webster (http://www.m-w.com).

But anyway, your instinct is right. Prefixes generally don't need to be hyphenated, unless they could be misread. It's also helpful to distinguish between pairs like recreate and re-create. But that's probably more than you really wanted to know, so I'll stop typing now.
Title: RE: Reexamine
Post by: Annie the Masticator on December 07, 2004, 08:31:14 PM
Once I read a sewing manual that kept referring to me as the sew-er.  I couldn't figure this out until I tried writing it without the hyphen.
Title: RE: Reexamine
Post by: Pepe the Inamimated on December 07, 2004, 09:06:58 PM
lol!

*dies*
Title: RE: Reexamine
Post by: Trisha on December 08, 2004, 08:09:21 AM
I prefer re-examine, and also mis-spell because I can never remember whether there should be two s's or not.  :runs off to the copyright office to stake a claim to Rexamine"
Title: RE: Reexamine
Post by: Uchiha Itachi on December 08, 2004, 05:00:29 PM
That would be the trademark office, wouldn't it?

And what is this wonderful product?  It sounds like a drug to increase your kinglyness or something.
Title: RE: Reexamine
Post by: Anna on December 17, 2004, 02:12:46 AM
And does "reread" exist ?  
Title: RE: Reexamine
Post by: Noemon on December 17, 2004, 05:08:07 AM
It does Anna.