Nonevent

[Laurence Horn]

>
>NONEVENT--Seen in the INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, in a page one
>story about the euro getting stronger than the dollar.  It was
>called, in quotes, a "nonevent."  I Googled, and there's 3,720
>"nonevent" and 28,200 "non-event."  I prefer the latter.  I saw the
>word quickly as "none vent." Is there a word for compounds that
>break more than one way?

Not that I know of, but my favorite has always been BERIBBONED:
the intended parse (be-ribboned) vs. the un- (be-rib-boned).  I guess
these are Janus words in a different sense from that of our old
friends the enantionyms (cleave, sanction,...).

larry