Bookstores and Other Compound Words

Think Tank #136

Have you ever noticed that “bookstore” is one of the only types of store that we have a distinct word for?

We don’t write “toystore” or “hardwarestore” or “plantstore.” I could imagine my grandmother writing down the word “shoestore,” but I’m not sure I would spell it this way, and spellcheck (incidentally, another compound word) flagged it as an error, which means that it probably doesn’t count.