# Used-bookstore? Used-book-store? Used bookstore? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 13, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102 "2013-08-13T03:11:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/21 "2013-08-13T17:33:29Z")
> [@Doubting\_Robert](#): > > Thanks for all your comments. I see most of the votes are for the phrase I was trying to avoid (used bookstore) and no one voted for the answer that seems to be best to me (used-book store). That’s life, I guess. Hyphenation is used here to clarify what the modifiers are modifying. Used bookstore is only ever going to be interpreted as a store that sells used books so there’s no need to hyphenate. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/22 "2013-08-13T18:41:31Z")
Second hand book shop. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/23 "2013-08-13T18:56:27Z")
Book(used)store ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/24 "2013-08-13T20:17:58Z")
Gently read books. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/25 "2013-08-13T20:33:59Z")
As opposed to “Read hard and put away wet”? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/26 "2013-08-13T20:45:41Z")
When in doubt, rephrase: Purveyor of used books. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/27 "2013-08-26T10:19:09Z")
It’s an antiquarian bookstore. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/28 "2013-08-27T21:16:55Z")
Retailer of nearly new publications. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/29 "2013-08-28T04:03:15Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > It’s an antiquarian bookstore. Well, no. All antiquarian bookstores are used bookstores, but not all used bookstores are antiquarian bookstores. _Antiquarian_ denotes books that are especially old and possibly rare. The Paperback Trader shop in the strip mall doesn’t qualify. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/30 "2013-08-28T10:16:30Z")
‘Secondhand’ is a word. ‘Bookshop’ is a word. Secondhand Bookshop. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/31 "2013-08-28T15:40:31Z")
Previously fingered books. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/32 "2013-08-28T16:10:08Z")
> [@Doubting\_Robert](#): > > Thanks for all your comments. I see most of the votes are for the phrase I was trying to avoid (used bookstore) and no one voted for the answer that seems to be best to me (used-book store). That’s life, I guess. > > Robert I think “used-book store” is the most pedantically correct of the bunch, but it looks needlessly fussy and “used bookstore” doesn’t cause confusion. The other argument pro-“used bookstore” is the way the phrase is normally said, at least in my experience. The stress of “used-book store” and “used bookstore” are different, with the two being semantically parsed and sounding like “[used book] store” and the second as “used [book store]”. In other words “used-book store” to me sounds like there’s a grouping of “used” and “book” in the stress patterns, and “store” gets an equal stress (so almost like / / / in scansion) while “used bookstore”, the “store” gets less emphasis (so something like / / ˘ in scansion.) It that doesn’t make sense, think of “Bluebook store” (a fictional type of store that sells Bluebooks, like the Kelly Bluebook) vs a “blue bookstore” (a bookstore that is blue.) Despite the fact that a “used-book store” is a store that sells used-books, the rhythm of the phrase as I hear almost always follows the second stress pattern, as if it were a bookstore that is used. ---
**Author:** ![runningdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@runningdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runningdude)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/33 "2013-08-28T19:27:51Z")
“Used bookstore” is an idiomatic phrase. It doesn’t have to be semantically logical; it’s meaning is understood from context. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/34 "2013-08-30T23:56:56Z")
The use of compound & hyphenated words in English is solely dependent on common practice & convention – there are no hard-and-fast rules (just like in much of the English language!). Words commonly used together for one concept progress from separate words to hyphenated phrases to a single compound word. But sometimes stop before going all the way, and sometimes even go backward. Not since the 1700’s or 1800’s have writers used _to-day_ or _to-morrow_. And since the 1990’s, _electronic mail_ has been moving to _electronic-mail_ to _e-mail_ to _email_. But some online grammar/spelling checkers still complain about that. It’s a moving process, controlled by how many people move with it. Which is why a Google cite count is a semi-authorative answer. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102/35 "2013-08-31T00:44:58Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Not since the 1700’s or 1800’s have writers used _to-day_ or _to-morrow_. Both to-day and to-morrow were in common use well into the 20th century, though somewhat longer in Britain than in the U.S. [Here’s a major example](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To-day_and_To-morrow) from the 1920s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/used-bookstore-used-book-store-used-bookstore/666102.md?page=1)