# When did to-day become today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-to-day-become-today/759784 "2016-07-13T04:02:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-to-day-become-today/759784/1 "2016-07-13T04:02:30Z")
Hello Everyone, I’m reading Winged Warfare in World War I by Billy Bishop and noticed that he spells today with a hyphen, “to-day”. Was this a common spelling of the word in the early 20th Century and if so, when was the hyphen dropped? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-to-day-become-today/759784/2 "2016-07-13T04:26:37Z")
I was curious so I went googling, The first hit was this SDMB thread: > **[Why Was Today Spelled To-day?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=535352)** > > I’m reading Jack London stories and I’ve noticed that he spells “today” “to-day”. Was it a common practice a century ago, if so why, and why isn’t it so to-day? The first reply in that thread went to this Online Etymology Dictionary link: > **[today | Etymology, origin and meaning of today by etymonline](https://www.etymonline.com/word/today)** > > TODAY Meaning: "on (this) day," from to "at, on" (see to) + dæge, dative of dæg "day" (see day). Meaning "in modern… See origin and meaning of today. And that link says that it was written as two words until the 16th century, then was hyphenated until the early 20th century, and then was written as one word. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-to-day-become-today/759784/3 "2016-07-13T04:58:02Z")
Ngram shows a crossover point around 1930: [Google Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=to-day%2C+today&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cto%20-%20day%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ctoday%3B%2Cc0) ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-to-day-become-today/759784/4 "2016-07-13T05:43:36Z")
That’s a surprisingly common process. Other examples: to-morrow --\> tomorrow; Viet-Nam --\> Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-to-day-become-today/759784/5 "2016-07-13T08:25:22Z")
Apparently the standard terms for the three ways of writing compound nouns are open form (to day), hyphenated form (to-day), and closed form (today): > **[What Is a Compound Noun? Definition, Examples and Rules Explained](https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/nouns/compound-noun.html)** > > Compound nouns contain two or more words that join together to make a single noun. Find out how to use them to elevate your writing in this guide. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-to-day-become-today/759784/6 "2016-07-13T08:44:50Z")
Deleted ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-to-day-become-today/759784/7 "2016-07-13T14:14:58Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > That’s a surprisingly common process. Other examples: to-morrow –\> tomorrow; Viet-Nam –\> Vietnam. I believe that last is because one word is the way the post-war government spells it, and we’re only following their lead. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-to-day-become-today/759784/8 "2016-07-13T14:46:43Z")
Many years a-go. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-to-day-become-today/759784/9 "2016-07-13T15:18:12Z")
> [@aktep](#): > > Ngram shows a crossover point around 1930: [Google Ngram Viewer: to-day,today](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=to-day%2C+today&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cto%20-%20day%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ctoday%3B%2Cc0) What a cool site!! Thanks for sharing. I wish I had known about that yester-day! 😃