A new (to me, IAC) spelling rule

[Garson O'Toole]

Thanks to Wilson Gray. Below are recorded the comment number and the
author. Also, below is a shortened link that is supposed to go to the
exact comment. Bonus: two longer links (that might break): One link to
the comment page and another link to the exact comment.

74. August 31, 2010 1:03 pm
Bed bugs is TWO words – not one. The general rule for writing out
common names of insects is as follows. If the insect name is a
misnomer (e.g., the dragonfly is NOT a fly and neither is a
damselfly), then the whole name is written as one word. If it is not a
misnomer, then it is written as two words (e.g., house fly, which is a
real fly). The bed bug is a “true” bug and therefore is two words.
— Srini

http://nyti.ms/980wfT

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/the-curious-world-of-bedbug-research/?apage=3#comments

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/the-curious-world-of-bedbug-research/?apage=3#comment-568231

Good luck
Garson

On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 9:11 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: A new (to me, IAC) spelling rule
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 7:26 PM, Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at stanford.edu> wrote:
>> Wilson, if you can post the whole damn passage, why can't you tell us where it came from?
>>
>
> <http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/wp-comments-post.php>
>
> It is or was the last comment on p.4 of the comments. There's an
> earlier instance to which the NYT replies that it used the Webster's
> New World Collegiate as its authority and notes that other comments
> making the same complaint have been received.
> --
> -Wilson
> –––
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> –Mark Twain
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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