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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Jackie asked me to start this post again so here it is. I was listening to the CD version of "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" and they mentioned that hyphens can be correctly used to prevent misunderstanding even where not grammatically required. e.g. the blue paint-jar. But what about the other way around? The following day our local paper included information from an "anti-child sexual exploitation group."
Do you think I should send the editor a copy of the CD?
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Joined: Jul 2005
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773 |
Zed: There's a tendency in the written media to hyphenate between only the first two words of a multi-word modifier, occasionally producing the effect you cite. I can't understand what's so wrong with multi hyphens
dalehileman
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
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i think zed was questioning "anti-child sexual exploitation group" vs. "anti child-sexual exploitation group" (or even "anti-child-sexual-exploitation group")
the first sounds like its sexual exploitation group that is in opposition to children, the second, a group that is in opposition to children's sexual exploitation.
somewhat different meanings, eh?
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 557
addict
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addict
Joined: Oct 2005
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Quote:
a group that is in opposition to children's sexual exploitation.
Isn't "children's sexual exploitation" ambiguous? The children's sexual exploitation (of mice) left the mice with little time to find cheese.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
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I think anti-child was definitely incorrect, fwiw. I have also probably annoyed people by my frequent use of not-grammatically-called-for [rueful smile e] hyphens. I use them in typing to replace what, in speech, would be me saying that grouping of words more quickly than the rest of the sentence, to indicate that they go together. What the heck, it's perfectly clear to me!
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
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Judging from Helen's response I should have expanded my followup. What I means to say was, often logic would require more than one hyphen, as in the cited example, where anti child-sexual-exploitation group or even anti-child-sexual-exploitation group might work as well, ...it seems a current tendency of the media to use only a single hyphen, sometimes with hilarious consequences; whereas I see nothing wrong with multiple hyphens, as in
Last edited by dalehileman; 06/29/06 02:59 PM.
dalehileman
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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anti child-sexual-exploitation group or even anti-child-sexual-exploitation group
Never mind the hyphens - the larger issue is that the writer is not being explicit. It's child prostitution or prostitution of children. We can't stamp it out until we call it what it is instead of soft pedalling it. I guess you realize you inadvertantly touched a nerve!
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