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In the spirit of the What is a Word™/Phrase™ series started by JLee, a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles.

If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it a Unionized Word™.
Use the examples below to find the rule.

Unionized Words™ Not Unionized Words™
Akin Alike
Aria Solo
Cook Bake
Dewy Vernal
Hind Fore
Ilks Kinds
Inky Dark
Many Most
Pact Treaty
Scut Tail
Wail Outcry
Wide Narrow
Arcane Ordinary
Florid Ornate
Gamine Tomboy
Scrims Curtains
Vandal Looter
Coalmine Goldmine
Memorial Gravestone
Marineland Seaworld

And, if you want to analyze, here is a CSV version:

Unionized Words™,Not Unionized Words™
Akin,Alike
Aria,Solo
Cook,Bake
Dewy,Vernal
Hind,Fore
Ilks,Kinds
Inky,Dark
Many,Most
Pact,Treaty
Scut,Tail
Wail,Outcry
Wide,Narrow
Arcane,Ordinary
Florid,Ornate
Gamine,Tomboy
Scrims,Curtains
Vandal,Looter
Coalmine,Goldmine
Memorial,Gravestone
Marineland,Seaworld

The puzzle satisfies the series' inbuilt assumption, that each word can be tested for whether it is a Unionized Word™ without relying on the other words.
These are not the only examples of Unionized Words™; many more exist.

What is the special rule these words conform to?

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    $\begingroup$ Plumbers and physicists? $\endgroup$
    – boboquack
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 10:19
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I was hoping we were supposed to read it as "un-ionized word" and it was going to be something about positive/negative. $\endgroup$
    – David Richerby
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 12:56
  • $\begingroup$ Related (spoilerifically): The Madman's Speech $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 23:35
  • $\begingroup$ I'm intrigued by some of the markdown in this post, especially rubio.2017.02.04 ... $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 23:35
  • $\begingroup$ @randal'thor It's a template, available for others to use if they wish. that bit in particular is a version stamp that also happens to serve a purpose in the formatting; if someone is using the template they can check that version against whatever my latest posting of this type used, and update their local copy if it's been updated. $\endgroup$
    – Rubio ♦
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 23:41

1 Answer 1

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A Unionized Word™ is a word ...

... that is made up wholly of abbreviations of US states. Unionized refers to the Union, i.e. the United States as in the State of the Union address.

My first thought was ...

... that the first letter pair was an abbreviation of a state, but that gave me false positives for the Not Unionized Words™ Alike, Most Ordinary and Ornate. Florid and Marineland are good hints, becuse they are close enough to Florida and Maryland.

Evidence section for Unionized Words:

AK·IN — Alaska · Indiana
AR·IA — Arkansas · Iowa
CO·OK — Colorado · Oklahoma
DE·WY — Delaware · Wyoming
HI·ND — Hawaii · North Dakota
IL·KS — Illinois · Kansas
IN·KY — Indiana · Kentucky
MA·NY — Massachusetts · New York
PA·CT — Pennsylvania · Connecticut
SC·UT — South Carolina · Utah
WA·IL — Washington · Illinois
WI·DE — Wisconsin · Delaware
AR·CA·NE — Arkansas · California · Nebraska
FL·OR·ID — Florida · Oregon · Idaho
GA·MI·NE — Georgia · Michigan · Nebraska
SC·RI·MS — South Carolina · Rhode Island · Mississippi
VA·ND·AL — Virginia · North Dakota · Alabama
CO·AL·MI·NE — Colorado · Alabama · Michigan · Nebraska
ME·MO·RI·AL — Maine · Missouri · Rhode Island · Alabama
MA·RI·NE·LA·ND — Massachusetts · Rhode Island · Nebraska · Louisiana · North Dakota

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    $\begingroup$ IMO you should show what each one should be, to help people understand the more difficult ones. $\endgroup$
    – n_plum
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 12:04
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Yeah,good idea. I've added it. $\endgroup$
    – M Oehm
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 13:04
  • $\begingroup$ Nicely done and perfectly explained $\endgroup$
    – Rubio ♦
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 13:37

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