Subj : A riddle
To   : Paul Quinn
From : Ardith Hinton
Date : Fri Oct 04 2019 23:46:04

Hi, Paul!  Recently you wrote in a message to mark lewis:

 ml>  along the lines of "why do we drive on parkways and
 ml>  park on driveways", why do we commonly say "inside-out"
 ml>  and rarely say "outside-in"?  ;)  O:)

 PQ>  I kinda liked your 'right-side' thing but I would've
 PQ>  used 'rightside' had I thought of it.  ;)


         Ahh.  You suggested hyphenating "inside out", and my CANADIAN OXFORD 
DICTIONARY agreed with you that the term should be hyphenated when used as an 
attributive adjective.  Mark followed the same pattern in his examples.  IMHO 
your initial reaction was quite correct... so why do things differently here?



 ml>  i kinda think it has something to do with alphabetical
 ml>  ordering...

 PQ>  Oh no, my head hurts if I try that sort of analysis.  Oh,
 PQ>  the pain... [sfx: channeling Dr Smith, Lost In Space]


         You may not need to if, as Anton remarked, you're aware of the sound 
when various words are used together.  I guess alphabetical order is probably 
the default in many cases, but native speakers also use expressions like:

                     hurdy-gurdy
                     itsy-bitsy
                     goods & chattels
                     lock, stock, and barrel
                     pomp & circumstance

.... at least 4/5 of which were in common use before you & I were born.  ;-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

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