5 ms·

Is the spelling of "preëmptive" with a trema correct? I know of course what a trema does, but I have never seen it being used in this word. Sorry for being off

Is the spelling of "preëmptive" with a trema correct? I know of course what a trema does, but I have never seen it being used in this word. Sorry for being off-topic. Actually not so off-topic, considering how often the word is used in CS :)

fmajid 8y ago
It's just one of the douchey affectations that make The New Yorker such an unpleasant publication to read.
- CamperBob2 8y ago
  I don't see what's "douchey" about it, but it's certainly a pointless affectation with no sound basis in modern usage. The New York journalism establishment seems to be into those for some reason. My favorite is when the NYT -- uh, make that N.Y.T. -- writes acronyms like F.B.I. and I.B.M. with periods that even the institutions themselves don't use. Some kind of obscure orthographical virtue signal, I guess.
bshimmin 8y ago
It's the house style at the New Yorker to use it wherever possible or vaguely plausible: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-the-diaeresis https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-...
tekacs 8y ago
The use of diaeresis is a stylistic quirk of the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-the-diaeresis https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-...
deleted 8y ago
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CalRobert 8y ago
It's a nice touch in some ways. Coöperate makes it obvious I am not referring to something to do with chicken coops. If I were not a native speaker of English I suspect words like that (and reëlect, etc) would be a challenge.
- thecopy 8y ago
  As a Swede "Coöperate" looks very weird, as ö is a letter very commonly used in swedish.
  - CalRobert 8y ago
    English used to have more of these handy characters (like þ) but sadly the language is being denuded and stripped. Even the subjunctive form is almost dead - most of the time it's "I wish I were there", not "I wish I was there", dammit!

fmajid 8y ago

It's just one of the douchey affectations that make The New Yorker such an unpleasant publication to read.

CamperBob2 8y ago
I don't see what's "douchey" about it, but it's certainly a pointless affectation with no sound basis in modern usage. The New York journalism establishment seems to be into those for some reason. My favorite is when the NYT -- uh, make that N.Y.T. -- writes acronyms like F.B.I. and I.B.M. with periods that even the institutions themselves don't use. Some kind of obscure orthographical virtue signal, I guess.

bshimmin 8y ago

It's the house style at the New Yorker to use it wherever possible or vaguely plausible: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-the-diaeresis https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-...

tekacs 8y ago

The use of diaeresis is a stylistic quirk of the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-the-diaeresis https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-...

deleted 8y ago

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CalRobert 8y ago

It's a nice touch in some ways. Coöperate makes it obvious I am not referring to something to do with chicken coops. If I were not a native speaker of English I suspect words like that (and reëlect, etc) would be a challenge.

thecopy 8y ago
As a Swede "Coöperate" looks very weird, as ö is a letter very commonly used in swedish.
- CalRobert 8y ago
  English used to have more of these handy characters (like þ) but sadly the language is being denuded and stripped. Even the subjunctive form is almost dead - most of the time it's "I wish I were there", not "I wish I was there", dammit!