Pin Money Pickles: the best ad

Virginia entrepreneur Ellen G. Kidd (1852–1932), of Richmond, had a talent for making pickles. From a start of selling some, for “pin money,” from her home at 619 N. Sixth Street, she launched a company—“Pin Money Pickles”—that eventually sold the pickles all over the world. The pickles “sold themselves” and were undoubtedly their own best advertisement.

The company continued production until 1950.

“Pin money” is an idiom, referring to small amounts of money, for incidental expenses. Originating in France, pins (jewelry) were introduced in England by Catherine Howard, wife of Henry VIII. Since pins were expensive, indulgent husbands would grant their wives special money to be used for that luxury. Hence, “pin-money.”

“The best ad is a good product.” –Alan H. Meyer

As the language changes

The English language is always growing, changing, evolving. New words enter from other languages. Are created in specialized fields. Are created from combinations of already existing words. Were originally created as trademarked names of products. Acquire new meanings. Die out. Have meanings become obsolete. Acquire new meanings.

And there's always the problem of: what is the correct way to spell [fill-in-the-blank]? Well, sometimes "correct" hasn't been firmly established yet. Sometimes what is "correct" just depends. Sometimes it's a matter of personal preference or company policy. Sometimes it has evolved from something that had once been correct into something different that is now correct.

Sometimes the correct spelling depends on what part of speech the word is. How is it used in the sentence? Verb? Verb phrase? Noun? Adjective? A verb phrase would be two separate words, but those two words would be hyphenated or closed up (one solid word) as a noun or adjective. ("Superman picked up the pickup." "Clark Kent tried a pickup line on Lois Lane.") And partly it depends on accepted usage, which could very well change over time. (In other words, check a current dictionary to be safe.)

Or a prepositional phrase (for example, two words such as "over time") might in a one-word combined form ("overtime") serve as a noun, adverb, adjective or verb (but not necessarily all of those!). Or another prepositional phrase (for example, "in between") might be an adverb when open ("in between") or a noun or adjective when hyphenated ("in-between"). Again, it depends.  

And while a new word is being assimilated into the language, its "proper" spelling is often in flux. It might be open, combined, hyphenated, capitalized or lowercase. Is it "web site," "Web site" or "website"?; "on-line," "online" or "on line"?; "e-mail" or "email"? Answer: for the time being, there is no right or wrong. There is only preference. Or a style guide.  ("Over time Clark Kent picked up many pickup lines while online, in between checking his email and reading websites.") 

Often a spelling changes with time. The way you were taught to spell something when you were in school might not be currently accepted usage. (Now: "Cooperate"; then: "co-operate.") Many words that we now always close up were hyphenated decades ago. (For example, a 1935 young-adult novel used "bed-time," "day-light" and "tattle-tale"; we would now use "bedtime," "daylight" and "tattletale.")

How much more will English have evolved by the end of even this decade? And of even greater importance, how many bad example lines can I think of?