Most of us go through life thinking the language we speak read and write is a static sort of thing, when actually it is constantly changing.
Consider the sentence: “Some may require followup a month after the sale, while others will require a followup immediately.”
HERE, followup is used as a noun. Since the dictionary does not define the word “followup,” I would hyphenate it. But actually a new word is evolving and being formed in our language. Remember, the English language—and any language for that matter—is a moving target, as are the grammar rules of the language.
If you doubt this, take a moment to read some Shakespeare, which is only several hundred years old. Note that many of the words he uses are outdated now and to understand his stories, you must do quite a bit of work deciphering all the subtle nuances in the words.
Language is moving, and at a pretty fast pace. Listen to the slang words of any teenager and watch them grow in popularity. At first, the words sound odd and out of place; but before long, the mainstream media has taken them up and we have included them in our own vocabulary. When a new word emerges, a sort of democratic process takes place with usage being equivalent to a vote. If the word gets enough “votes,” ultimately it is formally accepted into the language by being included in the dictionary.
Teenagers are not the only word generators in society; technology is the provenance of many. As technology evolves and new processes and objects (verbs like google and nouns like computer) emerge, words to describe them are added to the lexicon.
Think of “followup” or “follow-up” as a noun or adjective, and “follow up” as a verb construction.
- “She is going to follow up.”–verbish.
- “He is going to get some follow-up.”–nounish
- “He is going to a follow-up meeting.”–adjective.
Back to Shakespeare for a moment. Consider the following line from Twelfth Night, Act1, Scene II:
“Perchance he is not drown’d: what think you, sailors?”
Consider the word, perchance. Is it possible that this word started as two words “per chance.” Is this sort of like “follow up” and “followup”?
I think so.
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