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8-track? Eight-Track?

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applejosh1

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Oct 20, 2002, 4:39:16 PM10/20/02
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Anyone know which spelling is correct? I cannot find either listed in a
dictionary.

GrapeApe

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Oct 20, 2002, 10:51:33 PM10/20/02
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>Anyone know which spelling is correct? I cannot find either listed in a
>dictionary.

Have you tried searching with and without hyphenation?

Style guides would suffice regarding usage of digits and spelling out of same.
As long as you are internally consistant, your prose containing same will
probably pass by without notice. If using the 8 track version, I would take
care not to use this spelling to start a sentence. I think I recall some rule
of thumb saying if the number is less than 99, spell it out.

The hyphenation may be optional, depending on the chances of ambiguity created
by context, and this is something to watch for in situations where columns or
pagination may separate the words otherwise, where a hyphen might help keep the
word intact.

The separate meanings of the phrase itself may also need attention. It can
mean the consumer format in a plastic cartridge as popular in the seventies, or
it can apply to professional and semi-professional reel to reel and cassette
recorders, and even lanes of highway.

Ray Heindl

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Oct 21, 2002, 4:27:20 PM10/21/02
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apple...@aol.com (applejosh1) wrote:

> Anyone know which spelling is correct? I cannot find either listed
> in a dictionary.

My dictionary (the RHUD) lists both "eight-track" and "8-track", with
"eight-track" apparently being preferred.

--
Ray Heindl

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