worthwhile/worth while/worth-while

现在 worthwhile 与 worth while 这两种拼写法是并存的。也就是说,有的作者写作 worthwhile,有的作者写作 worth while。例如：

1. It is scarcely worthwhile your going home. (CGEL) 这几乎不值得你回家。

2. It is not worth while wearing a long face. 这不值得你拉长面孔。

3. All this fussing is hardly worth while. 这一切麻烦几乎是不值得的。

4. It's not $\$left\{ \begin{array}{l} worth while \\ worthwhile \end{array} \right\} (your)staying.(CGEL) 你留下来是不值得的。

5. A visit to London will always be worthwhile. (EED) 访问伦敦总是很值得的。

从后一例句可以看出，《远东英汉大辞典》说，此字位于 to be 之后必须分开为两字的说法，是缺乏根据的。

不言而喻,在 worth one's while 这个惯用语中 worth 与 while 是分开写的:

1. It is not worth your while staying. 这不值得你留下来。

2. You will find it worth your while to read the book. 你会发现这本书是很值得你一读的。worth-while 只用作名词的修饰语：

It was a worth-while visit to the cinema; much better than stopping at home looking at the television. (Ridout) 去电影院看电影是很值得的，比呆在家里看电视好多了。