Learn English – Is ‘useable’ preferred in certain regions, or just an alternate spelling of ‘usable’

I have grown up and lived most of my life in the US northeast, in particular New England, more specifically Massachusetts. The phrase "all set" has many meanings which can vary based upon the context. The subtleties are easily lost on most folks, many of whom may be seeing it as a written, not spoken, expression.

It can very well mean you are "ready" (occasionally, one may simply use the word "set" alone):

• for an upcoming event

• to depart or get going

It also can mean "finished" or "completed":

• with the dinner plate, the server can clear it now that you are not using it

• the server may offer coffee or dessert but you may want to just get the check and leave

• with the tool, you can borrow it without hindering my progress

It can mean "not requiring assistance" or "not requiring (further) merchandise":

• just browsing/loitering and not assistance from salesperson/librarian/security/other

• after regaining composure, perhaps after an accident, fall, loss of temper

It can mean "the matter is resolved":

• shopkeeper: "You are all set." The transaction is complete, the customer can go.

• restaurant patron: "This (check) is all set." The money offered for the check will pay in full and the wait staff can keep the change as gratuity, no change required.

• repair person: "It's all set now." The item is repaired. (The customer should ask for clarification to make sure that what was requested has been provided.)

As shown above, the many ambiguities for this catch-all phrase depend upon who is speaking and in what circumstance. It is my opinion that because the phrase can be vague, it keeps people communicating. Overly precise language can stifle interaction by crowding out occasion for humorous misunderstanding, actual two-way dialogues where questions and answers are exchanged, and the ability to see anther's point of view by forcing oneself to perceive a situation from a perspective other than their own.

I guess I am all set with this topic.

There is no grammatical superiority or inferiority to open compounds (auto fill), hyphenated compounds (auto-fill) or closed compounds (autofill).

There are forms that are particularly common with particularly common compounds, to the extent that they would be considered preferred spellings. But even then it's common to find two or all three in good use.

There are also some compounds of long standing where all three are still often found (egg beater, egg-beater and eggbeater being an example).

There seems to be a general trend over the last few decades toward fewer hyphenated forms, and more closed forms, but not a so strong as to make hyphenated forms "wrong".

In all, there's little to pick between them. If anything would be objectionable to anyone, it would be the fact that they're relative neologisms, which some people dislike, and such people would prefer to just use "automatically filled in". But that's an objection of subjective taste of some people, not a rule of grammar. I would though avoid a neologism in a formal context, unless the formal text was on a related technical topic.

The only real way to pick between open, hyphenated and closed compounds are:

1. See what other people seem to prefer in the given case. Pay particular attention to those of the same region as yourself and writing in the same register as you intend to.

2. If you really just like the look of one more than another, and it's not particularly rare, then by all means go for it: It's an acceptable variation of personal style.

There are though two exceptions:

1. If a closed compound begins to be thought of as a fully independent word, then you should favour it. That said, if that happens you probably won't think of it as a closed compound yourself, so you won't make that mistake.

2. If a closed compound matches the spelling of a different word, then you should avoid it, to avoid confusion.