# Use of to-day instead of today- was this ever common? And why?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-to-day-instead-of-today-was-this-ever-common-and-why/360200>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 10, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-to-day-instead-of-today-was-this-ever-common-and-why/360200 "2006-06-10T14:03:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-to-day-instead-of-today-was-this-ever-common-and-why/360200/21 "2026-10-05T05:33:17Z")

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> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Teen-ager is another word nobody remembers used to be hyphenated.

And the New Yorker still uses the hyphen.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-to-day-instead-of-today-was-this-ever-common-and-why/360200/22 "2026-10-05T15:39:18Z")

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Would that be the New-Yorker? 🤪

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-to-day-instead-of-today-was-this-ever-common-and-why/360200/23 "2026-10-05T16:26:21Z")

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The New Yorker actually [modernized its style guide](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/style/new-yorker-style-guide.html) a bit not that long ago.

> The magazine will abandon “Web site,” “in-box,” and “Internet” in favor of the more familiar “website,” “inbox” and “internet.” “Cellphone” will be one word, rather than two.

Diaereses were kept. “Charming” they said.

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**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-to-day-instead-of-today-was-this-ever-common-and-why/360200/24 "2026-10-05T20:21:58Z")

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> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> The New Yorker actually [modernized its style guide](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/style/new-yorker-style-guide.html) a bit not that long ago.
> 
> Diaereses were kept. “Charming” they said.

They are the preëminent publication trying to reëstablish the use of diaereses in words with consecutive vowels that are pronounced as separate syllables. 😉

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**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-to-day-instead-of-today-was-this-ever-common-and-why/360200/25 "2026-10-05T21:17:24Z")

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Here’s a frame from the 1961 Twiight Zone episode “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up.”  
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/msKubf4fE8E/hqdefault.jpg) ](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/msKubf4fE8E/hqdefault.jpg)

Here’s a still shot from an[I Love Lucy episode from 1952](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0609249/mediaviewer/rm1809232129/).

Notice the signs in both show TO-DAY. So the old convention lasted until mid-century, at least in the minds of set designers.

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-to-day-instead-of-today-was-this-ever-common-and-why/360200/26 "2026-10-09T02:41:22Z")

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> [@Larry\_Mudd](#):
>
> I’m a good Canadian, so I try to avoid dropping the hyphen in “e-mail” to preclude confusion with “enamel.”

Enamel is _émail_, so the accent sufficiently distinguishes it. When I realized that, I stopped hyphenating email.

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-to-day-instead-of-today-was-this-ever-common-and-why/360200/27 "2026-10-09T02:45:30Z")

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> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> Would that be the New-Yorker?

You jest, but it really was written “New-York” two hundred years ago. That hyphen was discarded sometime in the 19th century, I think.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-to-day-instead-of-today-was-this-ever-common-and-why/360200/28 "2026-10-09T08:40:34Z")

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I was half in jest. I knew it had been New-York back in Ye Olden Tymes. But I figured that would surprise a few folks.

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