User talk:Spangineer

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short-shrift
Hello. Is this commonly used as an alternate spelling of short shrift? If so, we should give it an "alternate spelling" entry. If not, we should delete it. Equinox ◑ 22:23, 25 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Hmm. It looks as though it might have a different meaning in your text: something that dooms the one who takes it &mdash; perhaps the shortest weapon, the short straw? (Not, as at short shrift, scant consideration.) As for "the hyphenated version probably [predating] the open version", I think that only tends to apply in compounds like type-writer and ice-cream where two nouns are being joined; short shrift is an adj and noun, like green apple, so I wouldn't ever expect to see it hyphenated in the sense that we have documented. Equinox ◑ 22:35, 25 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Having read it again, I think you're right: if they are captured, they are sure to receive scant consideration and the (hangman's) rope. I'll see if I can find two more examples on Google Books. Equinox ◑ 22:50, 25 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Take a peek at this: it's a search of all the books Google has scanned from between 1800 and 1900 (because the hyphenated form seems dated) with the exact phrase "the short shrift", hyphen or no. The only one I spotted in the first five or so pages with the hyphen was the book you were reading, so I'm inclined to regard it as a quirk or error rather than an attestable alternate form. If you are able to dig out two more, we can keep it, but it looks like hard work! Equinox ◑ 22:54, 25 April 2009 (UTC)


 * We don't use redirects very much; see . The reasoning is that alternate spellings are (in themselves) words. It would be a bad idea to have colour as a redirect to color (or vice versa) because it would suggest that one was merely an error or mis-encoding of some sort and not a word in itself. Bots and scripts would also be likely to miss them. Equinox ◑ 23:05, 25 April 2009 (UTC)


 * BTW, the grounds for attesting a word for inclusion are at WT:CFI. It is generally enough to find three unrelated citations from published books or Usenet newsgroups. Equinox ◑ 22:47, 25 April 2009 (UTC)