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Permalink Reply by asha chaudhry on June 19, 2012 at 3:03pm

awesome q manish - once upon a time i looked it up to decide which spelling we should follow on therodinhoods :)))))))))

different publications use it differently. i have not come across any standardisation. but i'll look fwd to what the others have to say...!

thank you for asking this!!!!

:)

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Permalink Reply by Nishant Agrawal on June 19, 2012 at 4:02pm

There is no standard rule - startup and start-up are both valid. There isn't always a 'perfect' route in English. This reminds me of that very old debate:

1. Charles's operation; or
2. Charles' operation

Which one is correct? Strictly speaking, they are both valid. 

If one were to go into finer detail, then:

1. 'Start-up' implies that two different words are being combined to convey a singular thought; whereas
2. 'Startup' implies that it is a word in itself.

At the end, it makes no difference at all.

If a member of audience raises objection over correct usage, he is clearly bored and wants to piss you off.

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