Ok, I'll explain why I was excited about it
NOTE: I am
not trying to change anyone else's mind - this isn't about being "right" or "wrong" as an appraisal is always subjective. But I thought it might perhaps be good to share a bit of background to this domain...
In SEO, there are two generally interchangeable terms: "SEO" and "search engine optimisation". Indeed (very importantly) Google itself automatically equates the two terms (and Bing does too!), so if you search for "SEO" it will also bold "search engine optimisation" in the search results, and vice-versa. Google will even bold both alternatives inside the URL portion of the search results.
A lot of websites that I have seen tackle the interchangeability of the terms by using "Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)" as a prominent reference in TITLE and H1 tags at least, and probably in several other places as well. The closest domain name that maps to that is the one I just caught...
... and therefore it should help the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) process for any eventual site that gets developed on the domain name since the URL contains both terms in the "natural" order, and nothing else - and therefore both variants will automatically figure in every incoming link to that site.
At the same time, Google certainly dislikes sites with MULTIPLE hyphens, so my 1 hyphen is probably the most that it's "safe" to go with in such a competitive field.
On top of that, Google should "light up" the entire URL in the search results any time it shows up against EITHER "search engine optimisation" OR "SEO". That makes it stand out more effectively against competing sites.
Furthermore, as my PPC study showed, having the exact-match search terms within the URL itself can help with Adwords CTR rates, etc so again it's well-positioned for bids relating to either "search engine optimisation" or "SEO" as the URL line will be "fully lit" when bidding against either.
There's a huge mountain to climb in between, but I figured that just about the ONLY way to crack the SEO SERPS (probably the toughest competition of any search terms, since the competitors are all "in the biz") is to start from this kind of URL and build a compelling site on top of it.
Can't promise the compelling site, but at least the foundation is set strong and level...