Quote:
Originally Posted by stickybuns
I was thinking of the ginormous, multi-volume OED that gives the history of every word in the English language. I'm curious when the hyphen disappeared.
ETA: Oh, oops... looks like I've got OED access. So, in 1628, we've got, "A gude asker wald have a gude na sayer." And then in 1721, "A sturdy Beggar should have a stout Naysayer."
But in 1974, "Further to refute the nay-sayers, he cites poll after poll in which Americans say they are happy." But then again in 2000, "Many naysayers‥are trying to showcase the California experience as a dismal failure."
So, it looks like there is no clear consensus.
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My second edition OED (micrographic compact edition) lists Nay-say, Nay-sayer, and Nay-saying all as keyword entries with hyphens, though next to the keyword for nay-say, it says "also naysay." In the citations for all of them, as seen above, it seems to list examples with and without hyphens.
Personally, I like the hyphen.
Man, I love the OED. I need to get a better magnifying glass and browse mine more often.