2 ms·

> I had my worst-ever packing experience in the late nineties, when I was a teen-ager. Is hyphenating a word like teenager a New Yorker idiosyncracy? Or is tha

> I had my worst-ever packing experience in the late nineties, when I was a teen-ager. Is hyphenating a word like teenager a New Yorker idiosyncracy? Or is that a "soft" hyphen that crept into the final article copy? On the topic of packing, my advice is to roll your clothes instead of folding them. Rolling avoids wrinkles and allows more space-filling options. That plus the general advice of packing just a few universally-appropriate items. If you really need something else you can always buy it locally and then discard it (or something else) when you pack for the return trip.

mplanchard 3mo ago
Teen-ager and some other unusual hyphenations are New Yorker style, yes
jaggederest 3mo ago
It's a New Yorker style manual thing, just like diaresis on reëducate for example [1]. I think it's sensible in this specific instance (and others like it generally) because it allows the user to disambiguate [I had my worst] [ever packing experience] from [I had my worst ever] [packing experience]. I'm not sure what other punctuation or style you'd use there to clarify that, besides letting the user figure it out from obvious context. The New Yorker has a variety of these kinds of somewhat-archaic patterns, and I actually really like them because a) I think it gives a bit more literary feel, like the MIT Tech Review that also uses them, and b) it makes the text accessible to a broader audience, people who might speak english as a second or fourth language and not natuarally scan that phrase without punctuation. [1] https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-the-diaeresis https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-...
- SoftTalker 3mo ago
  Actually my question was about teen-ager. Haven't seen that hyphenated since before e-mail stopped being hyphenated. Worst-ever does make sense in that usage.
  - jaggederest 3mo ago
    Yeah it's definitely New Yorker style manual, archaic but imo charming
twentyfiveoh1 3mo ago
I am usually only traveling with a carry-on and I use something called "ranger rolls". Roll them as densely as you can get them. try not to leave them that way outside of immediate travel. I like it precisely of your space filling comment. I can fit clothes into what was ordinarily dead space with any other method in any other bag or suit case.
OkayPhysicist 3mo ago
Even better than rolling is a suit fold. I inherited one, and only got around to using it years later when I needed to fly in to a buddy's wedding with a suit. Ever since, it's my go-to piece of luggage. It's small enough to fit in a seat well in a pinch, it's light and portable enough to sling over your shoulder for a multi-leg public transit journey, and your clothes don't need any ironing to look immaculate when you get to your destination.

mplanchard 3mo ago

Teen-ager and some other unusual hyphenations are New Yorker style, yes

jaggederest 3mo ago

It's a New Yorker style manual thing, just like diaresis on reëducate for example [1]. I think it's sensible in this specific instance (and others like it generally) because it allows the user to disambiguate [I had my worst] [ever packing experience] from [I had my worst ever] [packing experience]. I'm not sure what other punctuation or style you'd use there to clarify that, besides letting the user figure it out from obvious context. The New Yorker has a variety of these kinds of somewhat-archaic patterns, and I actually really like them because a) I think it gives a bit more literary feel, like the MIT Tech Review that also uses them, and b) it makes the text accessible to a broader audience, people who might speak english as a second or fourth language and not natuarally scan that phrase without punctuation. [1] https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-the-diaeresis https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-...

SoftTalker 3mo ago
Actually my question was about teen-ager. Haven't seen that hyphenated since before e-mail stopped being hyphenated. Worst-ever does make sense in that usage.
- jaggederest 3mo ago
  Yeah it's definitely New Yorker style manual, archaic but imo charming

twentyfiveoh1 3mo ago

I am usually only traveling with a carry-on and I use something called "ranger rolls". Roll them as densely as you can get them. try not to leave them that way outside of immediate travel. I like it precisely of your space filling comment. I can fit clothes into what was ordinarily dead space with any other method in any other bag or suit case.

OkayPhysicist 3mo ago

Even better than rolling is a suit fold. I inherited one, and only got around to using it years later when I needed to fly in to a buddy's wedding with a suit. Ever since, it's my go-to piece of luggage. It's small enough to fit in a seat well in a pinch, it's light and portable enough to sling over your shoulder for a multi-leg public transit journey, and your clothes don't need any ironing to look immaculate when you get to your destination.