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Usenet Posted 23 years ago
Usage
Odd hyphens.
Saw this in the paper today:
In (the book) "Paradise", a convent-turned-women's refuge is stormed by townsmen.
The meaning is perfectly clear, but is there not a slight miscue here, to the effect that this was once a convent refuge? On the other hand, if the hyphens are dropped, a different miscue arises, as you might think initially that "convent" is to be the subject and "turned" the main verb. Is the writer is trying to tell us too much in too few words?
What do you think?
Peasemarch.
In (the book) "Paradise", a convent-turned-women's refuge is stormed by townsmen.
The meaning is perfectly clear, but is there not a slight miscue here, to the effect that this was once a convent refuge? On the other hand, if the hyphens are dropped, a different miscue arises, as you might think initially that "convent" is to be the subject and "turned" the main verb. Is the writer is trying to tell us too much in too few words?
What do you think?
Peasemarch.
Top answer
[nq:1]Saw this in the paper today: In (the book) "Paradise", a convent-turned-women's refuge is stormed by townsmen. The meaning is ... main verb.
- [nq:1]Saw this in the paper today: In (the book) "Paradise", a convent-turned-women's refuge is stormed by townsmen.
- The meaning is ...
- main verb.
- Is the writer is trying to tell us too much in too few words?
- [/nq] I read it as being a refuge for convent-turned-women, and that confuses me.
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24 Answers
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[nq:1]Saw this in the paper today: In (the book) "Paradise", a convent-turned-women's refuge is stormed by townsmen. The meaning is ... main verb. Is the writer is trying to tell us too much in too few words? What do you think?[/nq]
I read it as being a refuge for convent-turned-women, and that confuses me.
Nikitta a.a. #1759 Apatriot(No, not apricot)#18
ICQ# 251532856
Unrefer
I read it as being a refuge for convent-turned-women, and that confuses me.
Nikitta a.a. #1759 Apatriot(No, not apricot)#18
ICQ# 251532856
Unrefer
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[nq:1]Saw this in the paper today: In (the book) "Paradise", a convent-turned-women's refuge is stormed by townsmen. The meaning is ... main verb. Is the writer is trying to tell us too much in too few words? What do you think?[/nq]
I think you're right that the writer is trying to tell us too much in too few words. However, if those are the words that the writer is intent on using, the correc
I think you're right that the writer is trying to tell us too much in too few words. However, if those are the words that the writer is intent on using, the correc
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[nq:1]Saw this in the paper today: In (the book) "Paradise", a convent-turned-women's refuge is stormed by townsmen. The meaning is ... main verb. Is the writer is trying to tell us too much in too few words? What do you think?[/nq]
Yes, I don't see any way to clearly express the intended thought without the adition of a few words. Playing with dashes and hyphens will not improve anything for
Yes, I don't see any way to clearly express the intended thought without the adition of a few words. Playing with dashes and hyphens will not improve anything for
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[nq:2]Saw this in the paper today: In (the book) "Paradise", ... too much in too few words? What do you think?[/nq]
[nq:1]Yes, I don't see any way to clearly express the intended thought without the adition of a few words. Playing with dashes and hyphens will not improve anything for the reading public.[/nq]
How about "convent-turned-women's-"refuge"?
Gary G. Taylor * Rialto, CA
[nq:1]Yes, I don't see any way to clearly express the intended thought without the adition of a few words. Playing with dashes and hyphens will not improve anything for the reading public.[/nq]
How about "convent-turned-women's-"refuge"?
Gary G. Taylor * Rialto, CA
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[nq:2]Yes, I don't see any way to clearly express the ... and hyphens will not improve anything for the reading public.[/nq]
[nq:1]How about "convent-turned-women's-"refuge"?[/nq]
Why the scare quotes? It is a refuge, isn't it? I don't think it improves anything.
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
[nq:1]How about "convent-turned-women's-"refuge"?[/nq]
Why the scare quotes? It is a refuge, isn't it? I don't think it improves anything.
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
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A. Willis quotes:
[nq:2]In (the book) "Paradise", a convent-turned-women's refuge is stormed by townsmen.[/nq]
[nq:1]... if those are the words that the writer is intent on using, the correct way to punctuate it would be to use a hyphen between "convent" and "turned", and an en dash between "turned" and "women's refuge".[/nq]
Ugh! That's even worse than the original it uses two differe
[nq:2]In (the book) "Paradise", a convent-turned-women's refuge is stormed by townsmen.[/nq]
[nq:1]... if those are the words that the writer is intent on using, the correct way to punctuate it would be to use a hyphen between "convent" and "turned", and an en dash between "turned" and "women's refuge".[/nq]
Ugh! That's even worse than the original it uses two differe
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[nq:2]"convent-turned-women's-refuge".[/nq]
[nq:1]This is the only acceptable choice (other than recasting the sentence, of course). If you use a hyphenated construct like ... say. But these days there seem to be a lot of people who find the original construction reasonable. (Shakes head)[/nq]
Is that a "these days" thing? I thought it was old, too. In any event, it's certainly comm
[nq:1]This is the only acceptable choice (other than recasting the sentence, of course). If you use a hyphenated construct like ... say. But these days there seem to be a lot of people who find the original construction reasonable. (Shakes head)[/nq]
Is that a "these days" thing? I thought it was old, too. In any event, it's certainly comm
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[nq:2]How about "convent-turned-women's-"refuge"?[/nq]
[nq:1]Why the scare quotes? It is a refuge, isn't it? I don't think it improves anything.[/nq]
Isn't the intended thought that the place is a communal living situation for lesbians? Don't the square quotes more clearly imply that?
Gary G. Taylor * Rialto, CA
gary at donavan dot org / http:// geetee dot donavan dot org "The two
[nq:1]Why the scare quotes? It is a refuge, isn't it? I don't think it improves anything.[/nq]
Isn't the intended thought that the place is a communal living situation for lesbians? Don't the square quotes more clearly imply that?
Gary G. Taylor * Rialto, CA
gary at donavan dot org / http:// geetee dot donavan dot org "The two
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[nq:2]Why the scare quotes? It is a refuge, isn't it? I don't think it improves anything.[/nq]
[nq:1]Isn't the intended thought that the place is a communal living situation for lesbians?[/nq]
Gosh, no! Not to me, anyway. Am I misunderstanding something?
[nq:1]Don't the square quotes more clearly imply that?[/nq]
"Scare", not "square", but no, I would never have thought of that. I
[nq:1]Isn't the intended thought that the place is a communal living situation for lesbians?[/nq]
Gosh, no! Not to me, anyway. Am I misunderstanding something?
[nq:1]Don't the square quotes more clearly imply that?[/nq]
"Scare", not "square", but no, I would never have thought of that. I
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}
}> Saw this in the paper today:
}>
}> In (the book) "Paradise", a convent-turned-women's refuge is stormed by }> townsmen.
}>
}> The meaning is perfectly clear, but is there not a slight miscue here, }> to the effect that this was once a convent refuge? On the other hand, }> if the hyphens are dropped, a different miscue arises, as you might }> thin
}> Saw this in the paper today:
}>
}> In (the book) "Paradise", a convent-turned-women's refuge is stormed by }> townsmen.
}>
}> The meaning is perfectly clear, but is there not a slight miscue here, }> to the effect that this was once a convent refuge? On the other hand, }> if the hyphens are dropped, a different miscue arises, as you might }> thin
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