No hard rules decide how to spell invented compound words.
Evidence
A compound word joins two or more words to express a single thing. Frequently used compounds become a permanent part of the language
, but many others are writersâ temporary constructions that will probably never see widespread use . These latter constructions canât be found in any dictionary, so how do we know whether to spell them as separate words (âopenâ), hyphenated, or as a single word (âclosedâ)? A few principles can guide us, but there are no hard-and-fast rules. â Bryan A. Garner, Jeff Newman, Tiger Jackson, The Redbook, 214
Categorization
- DEFINE: Introduces the open/hyphenated/closed spelling framework for compounds and the âtemporary constructionsâ concept.