Hot Tubs vs Hottubs vs Hot Tubes

by Jun 17, 2013

questions

Once upon a time, a family decided that it was high time to invest in their mental health. They all led busy lives: careers and extended family and friends and school and maintaining all of life’s other accoutrements pulled them in multiple directions day after day. After considering their options thoroughly, they decided that the best thing to bring into their lives was a hot tub. Given that what they lacked was time with one another, what better way to unite at the end of the day than a health and energy conscious means of decompressing and reconnecting?

This family, though, realized that they needed to do an extensive amount of research prior to committing to a particular brand and model of hot tub. Where to even begin? Not all hot tubs are created equal, and just as with vehicles and homes, there are comparative expert accounts and opinions to be incorporated into the decision making process! The family sits down at the computer to begin their research, and the appointed typist takes the position before the keyboard.

BUT WAIT

How does one enter this particular search query into the search engine?

Is it “hottub,” or “hottubs”? Companies so often create compound words when marketing their products, after all…

Is it “hottube” or “hottubes” or “hot tube” or “hot tubes”? The addition of an “E” at the end of words does indeed seemingly elevate the perceived luxury of a product, thanks to the French language’s influence on English…

How will the typist begin to gather information without knowing how to spell the product they seek?

“Hottub,” spelled as all one word, would be an earnest attempt, but is ultimately incorrect given that the standard spelling includes a space. Likewise, “hot tube” in both its two-word and one-word iterations are earnest attempts, but “tube” is pronounced < toob >, and might produce some unsavoury results if searched too thoroughly!

Best stick with the standard if information on spas is what you seek – hot tub!