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Uneasy
May 19, 2008 19:56:16 GMT
Post by Paul Doherty on May 19, 2008 19:56:16 GMT
I don't think we have things called six-children.
Children-shoes is maybe a little more feasible, but it sounds germanic, doesn't it?.
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Uneasy
May 19, 2008 22:36:12 GMT
Post by Pete on May 19, 2008 22:36:12 GMT
The more I read this thread, the more I think that some sentences just need to be recast. "Six shoes, all in children's sizes" might work. As might "6 pairs of children's shoes", depending on what the author actually intended. As several people have pointed out on the Subjunctive thread, English (and any language) should be about carity of communication, not slavish adherence to rules.
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Uneasy
May 19, 2008 22:51:44 GMT
Post by Paul Doherty on May 19, 2008 22:51:44 GMT
Ah yes.
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Uneasy
May 20, 2008 0:02:43 GMT
Post by Verbivore on May 20, 2008 0:02:43 GMT
I don't think we have things called six-children. [...] My neighbour does. I don't think he's yet figured out the cause (too close to the shallow end of the gene pool!).
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Uneasy
May 20, 2008 7:55:57 GMT
Post by Pete on May 20, 2008 7:55:57 GMT
Ah yes. Ah, well!
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Uneasy
May 20, 2008 8:23:40 GMT
Post by TfS on May 20, 2008 8:23:40 GMT
I don't think we have things called six-children. Quite agree, Paul, but then I wonder what the rule or accepted practice is about how to hyphenate two nouns to create a single noun. Where may this be done and where not? For instance, we accept six-tenths but not six-children. Children-shoes is maybe a little more feasible, but it sounds germanic, doesn't it?. Yes, maybe, but (taken from another website): Use hyphens when needed for clarity.The hyphen is needed, for instance, to distinguish re-sign from resign or re-creation from recreation. It helps to differentiate a dirty-movie theater from a dirty movie-theater.TfS
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Uneasy
May 20, 2008 15:51:06 GMT
Post by Dave M on May 20, 2008 15:51:06 GMT
> We accept six-tenths <
Do we? Normally, that is? If we had something 0.6 inches wide, it'd be six tenths of an inch wide, with definitely no hyphen. If marks on a ruler occurred regularly at intervals of six tenths of an inch, we could refer to the "six-tenths intervals" at which they occur. (But that's a bit rare, no?)
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Uneasy
May 20, 2008 19:38:03 GMT
Post by TfS on May 20, 2008 19:38:03 GMT
> We accept six-tenths < Do we? Normally, that is? If we had something 0.6 inches wide, it'd be six tenths of an inch wide, with definitely no hyphen. If marks on a ruler occurred regularly at intervals of six tenths of an inch, we could refer to the "six-tenths intervals" at which they occur. (But that's a bit rare, no?) I am not any sort of expert in this area but would refer you to Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_numbers_in_English under Fractions and Decimals. Probably this isn't any sort of authority on this subject but I offer it for support. TfS
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Uneasy
May 20, 2008 19:44:32 GMT
Post by Dr Mildr on May 20, 2008 19:44:32 GMT
It's odd that the Wikipedia list hyphenates all fractions except one half.
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Uneasy
May 21, 2008 7:52:51 GMT
Post by Dave M on May 21, 2008 7:52:51 GMT
On deeper reflection, I can see that we might use the hyphen where we say the words all-in-a-run, as an adjective or adverb: the glass was two-thirds full; he received a one-quarter share, for example. However, I think that the use of the hyphen (and therefore the Wikipedia statement) is WRONG when the fraction is a noun: the beer filled two thirds of the glass; he received one quarter of the estate.
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Uneasy
May 21, 2008 14:00:29 GMT
Post by Paul Doherty on May 21, 2008 14:00:29 GMT
Could they be different? The red is one and two thirds, the green is one and two-thirds?
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Uneasy
May 21, 2008 16:03:32 GMT
Post by Dave M on May 21, 2008 16:03:32 GMT
Mmmm. If I SAY it as you've written it, the all-said-together version leaves me waiting for the next word, such as "complete".
If I DON'T say ity that way, why would I write it that way?
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Uneasy
May 21, 2008 16:49:22 GMT
Post by Paul Doherty on May 21, 2008 16:49:22 GMT
Mm, I think I agree with you!
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