A going concern

July 8th, 2008 at 07:00am Barry Wood

When “goer” is attached to a word to add the meaning “one that attends regularly or frequents,” it usually doesn’t need a hyphen.

Among those that can be found in the dictionary are “churchgoer,” “concertgoer,” “filmgoer” or “moviegoer,” and “theatergoer.”

As with most things, it’s possible to go too far. For example, when faced with how to handle “Oktoberfest goer,” I would go with two words, for two reasons.

First, “goer” is a legitimate word all by itself.

Second, using it as one word, “Oktoberfestgoer,” is, as Mel Brooks might say, too German. Sure, it’s the appropriate cultural connection, but we don’t want to get into the habit of creating these unwieldy monsters.

Remember: We have to be able to say them, too.

Of course, another option is to recast a sentence so you don’t need any goers. Make the goers gone.

Entry Filed under: hyphen or no hyphen