I asked a professional editor friend of mine and this is what she had to say:
"I think usually the style guides follow the dictionary, and the dictionary is descriptive, not prescriptive. I just had Roma check Webster's, and she says there's no entry for "coworking," just "coworker," which of course means something different. I wonder if AP is inserting the hyphen in order to distinguish our kind of coworking from this other use? Speaking of descriptive instead of prescriptive. Google reports over 7 million uses of "coworking" but only about 800,000 of "co-working," and 1.8 million hits of "coworking space" to "co-working space." That's the kind of data that should convince the style wonks. They may have a policy on use of "co-" words generally that overrides when there's no entry in the dictionary. My guess is that getting a dictionary entry will be easier than convincing AP. The style guides will follow." Aaron Cruikshank Principal, CRUIKSHANK phone: 778.908.4560 e-mail: [email protected] web: cruikshank.me <http://www.cruikshank.me> twitter: @cruikshank <https://twitter.com/cruikshank> book a meeting: doodle.com/cruikshank <http://www.doodle.com/cruikshank> linkedin: in/cruikshank <http://www.linkedin.com/in/cruikshank> On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 1:17 PM, [email protected] < [email protected]> wrote: > Sounds like something Open Coworking could undertake if y'all aren't > opposed. After all we do already operate coworking.com and coworking.org. > > I think the first order of business is figuring out who makes this call. > > Does anyone have any place where to start on discovering who's in charge > here? > > On Tuesday, September 16, 2014 1:28:16 PM UTC-5, Tony Bacigalupo wrote: >> >> >> they did not hyphenate "Coworking Visa" as that is a name of a program >>> but they did hyphenate the word everywhere else in the article. >> >> >> This illustrates the issue perfectly. If Brad had invented something that >> sounded more proprietary, like "Bradworking," then there'd be no issue. But >> by calling it something so simple that anyone who saw it could immediately >> understand what it was, he made something that could more easily blossom >> into a global movement. >> >> The fact that neither he nor anyone else retained control over the word >> further allowed for that blossoming, but at a cost. If there's no authority >> on the word, issues like this become difficult to overcome. >> >> The only way I could see us making headway would be if some subset of us >> formed a sufficiently powerful coalition that could wield some kind of >> authority over the word, without violating the decentralized spirit of the >> movement. >> >> >> >> >> >> *--- + Personal: twitter <http://twitter.com/tonybgoode> • fb >> <http://facebook.com/tonybacigalupo> • linkedin >> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonybacigalupo>+ Projects: NWC >> <http://nwc.co/> • Bossless <http://bossless.co/> • Meetup >> <http://meetup.com/coworking-nyc> • NYTM <http://nytm.org/>+ Recent >> posts: Quarantining new ideas for monthly review >> <http://happymonster.co/2014/08/20/quarantining-new-ideas-for-monthly-review/> >> • Routine >> challenges <http://happymonster.co/2014/08/14/routine-challenges/> • Act IV >> <http://happymonster.co/2014/08/08/act-iv/>* >> *+ Currently reading: Nonviolent Communication <http://amzn.to/1sBVeoR> • >> Passages <http://amzn.to/1p8rNai> • Work <http://amzn.to/1utpc0l>* >> *+ Travel plans: NYC now-9/11 • Boulder 9/11-9/18 • Seattle 9/18-23 • NYC >> 9/24-Mid-October+ Help: I'm looking for a fab 1BR in south Brooklyn. Let me >> know if you have any leads!+ Upcoming: IndieCon NYC 2014 & NWC's sixth >> anniversary party. <http://indiecon2.eventbrite.com> Join!* >> >> On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 9:41 AM, Jacob Sayles <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> I haven't heard any movement on it but I'd love to see us take another >>> stab at it. Lauren, our newest employee, had some great ideas on what we >>> could do to grease the skids for the AP but she's only worked here one week >>> so she may need some time to settle in. :) >>> >>> Sometimes you just have to let it go. For the NYTimes article on the >>> Coworking Visa recently I went to bat just like you did and got a similar >>> response. Funny though they did not hyphenate "Coworking Visa" as that is >>> a name of a program but they did hyphenate the word everywhere else in the >>> article. >>> >>> Jacob >>> >>> --- >>> Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation >>> http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 >>> >>> On Mon, Sep 15, 2014 at 10:09 PM, [email protected] < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> There hasn't been any movement on this in 3 years. Anyone have an >>>> update? Liz? Alex? Tony? Jacob? Anybody? >>>> >>>> I had no idea how bad this issue was. >>>> >>>> I encountered this today with some press being written on Fort Work in >>>> the Dallas media today. >>>> >>>> When I saw the article posted, I saw a few misquotes about coworking >>>> statistics as well as the misspelling of coworking (hyphen included, not >>>> the cowering autocorrect). >>>> >>>> When I requested that both be corrected, the writer told me she could >>>> change (or omit) the quotes, but that AP style guides forbid her from >>>> changing the spelling of coworking. >>>> >>>> Here's her actual response (C+P'ed below): >>>> >>>> Hi Oren, >>>> >>>> I’ll take a look at the microsite — thank you! I’ll also rework your >>>> quote, or take it out entirely to make to correct the statement. >>>> >>>> On the word co-working, this is an AP style that’s out of our control. >>>> Again, I’ll take a look at the details first thing in the morning and will >>>> make the changes immediately. >>>> >>>> Thank for the email. I really appreciate it. >>>> >>>> Take care, >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Thursday, September 1, 2011 4:29:20 AM UTC-5, [email protected] >>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Hi everyone, >>>>> >>>>> For a while now we've been annoyed about the resurgence in the use of >>>>> the hyphenated version of the word coworking. As you all know, most >>>>> major media outlets these days write it as co-working. >>>>> Deskmag recently published an article explaining why this is >>>>> happening: it's because the AP Stylebook has decided that co-working >>>>> is the correct form. >>>>> However, we'd like to ask for your assistance in helping AP change >>>>> their minds! We've put out a call for people to bombard AP with the >>>>> following tweet: >>>>> >>>>> @APStylebook #Coworking is not Co-working. It’s an independent >>>>> movement that doesn’t want to be separated by a hyphen! >>>>> >>>>> For a backgrounder on why we think the word should be without a >>>>> hyphen, have a read of the article: http://www.deskmag.com/en/cowo >>>>> rking-or-co-working-with-hyphen-252 >>>>> >>>>> What do you all think? I know this is an old issue, but it's important >>>>> to get the name right, right? >>>>> >>>>> Sophie >>>>> Deskmag/Deskwanted >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>>> --- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> >>> >>> -- >>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> >> -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
