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 gener

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-...