Note also that most North American publishers use a hyphen after non only when it precedes a capital letter, so non-British and non-European, but nonbeliever and even nonnative. British publishers are much more apt to hyphenate all non-compounds no matter the following latter, so non-believer and non-native. Just don’t hyphenate nonchalant. :)

Oct 1, 2015 · Not is a negative adverb; no is a negative quantifier; non- is a negative prefix. Since negation is so important, thousands of idioms use each of these, among other negatives. Consequently there are lots of exceptions to the general rules below. Non- is not a word, but a part of another word, usually a descriptive adjective:

May 20, 2018 · Logically, then, "non-dead" might mean something like "not having died" (true of rocks and living people), and "undead" might mean "living." But word constructions don't always make sense. "Non-dead" isn't a word and "undead" means non-living and supernaturally animated. Go figure.

Except "non" is not an English word, it is a prefix of Latin origin. Which is why American style manuals will always ask you to merge it with the subsequent word, without a hyphen. British rules differ, and the "non-" construction is frequently found in the literature.

Then the single-statement version was coined. But now, most people recognise (and, I'd say, use) the slightly longer expression ... which is now equally 'a proverb'. Not the original, but hardly fake. If fake were taken to be a synonym of 'non-original', wouldn't all of Late Modern English (our present-day language) be 'fake'? –

After checking, I won't. The bound morpheme non is the negator for life-threatening here, so 'life-threatening' is more coherent. This does not come across with nonlife-threatening, which would seem to imply a threat to non-life. Leaving non stranded doesn't work either as it is a bound morpheme, a prefix not a word (in English). I'd use the ...

Jul 30, 2013 · It depends on the position of the adjective: You have to say "this is a non-significant variable," but you can say "this variable is not significant" or "... non-significant". (There may be a better technical term; if there is, hopefully somebody will give it in an answer.) –

Sep 19, 2012 · You used the dash in the wrong place: what you have written is a (non-zero)–sum game, which makes no sense. When you start with a hyphenated word, like zero-sum, than to make another hyphenated compound, this time you use an en dash, making it a non–zero-sum game. I might be tempted to create an open compound, but non doesn’t stand alone.

Oct 11, 2015 · Fear not using the word cunt, since it was not considered taboo in public speech until 15c.. cunt (n.) "female intercrural foramen," or, as some 18c. writers refer to it, "the monosyllable," Middle English cunte "female genitalia," by early 14c.

May 19, 2018 · Brothers and sisters are siblings. Husbands and wives are spouses. Mothers and fathers are parents. Sons and daughters are children. Grandparents, grandchildren ... but what about uncles and au...