in-your

[James Harbeck]

I'm sure this is a one-off, but I still think it's interesting. I was
at a rummage sale this morning and saw an LP from the 1960s showing
two or thre couples arrayed on and around then-styling furniture,
paying close attention to a barely-visible stereo in the corner of a
living room (with their backs to about 70% of the room!), and the
title read

Symphony Concert
in-your
living room

(I might be misremembering the capitalization). The titles of the
pieces were lower on the front cover, and the back was full of
technical facts about the recording meant to sound impressive,
nothing further on the title or pieces (nor did they mention the
performers!).

I thought the use of a hyphen or dash (typographically, it was
uncertain which it was supposed to be) between "in" and "your" was
rather interesting. Perhaps it was a sort of carryover from a usage
such as "concert-in-your-home," with other hyphens left out because
of line breaks and who knows what-all. The entire package appeared to
have been conceived and put together by someone in marketing (or
whatever it was called then).

I didn't buy it. I can't really justify picking up stuff like that
just for linguistic interest. I live in a high-rise condo, no
basement...

James Harbeck.

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