I mentioned the same thing, but I just discovered a difficulty with our hypothesis. A few comments above, he hyphenated it a couple times even though it wasn’t being used to modify a subsequent word. Instead, it seemed completely random, for he didn’t hyphenate it earlier in the comment despite there not seeming to be any relevant difference in usage.
Doesn’t feel the same to me. One is adjective noun, the other is noun noun. It affects the intonation. “I’m a blue CAR person” vs “I’m a CLOWN car person”.
Not the most natural-sounding example, but the point should nevertheless be intact. It’s noun noun, yet still works out the same way as komponisto’s original noun-adjective example.
It affects the intonation. “I’m a blue CAR person” vs “I’m a CLOWN car person”
I don’t agree; if you’re contrasting blue-car people with red-car people, the stress is on the first component. And if there is no context at all, I would read “blue-car person” as “BLUE-CAR person” (i.e. stress on the modifier relative to the modified, but not on either component of the modifier relative to the other).
OK, so compare “BLUE-CAR person” with “CLOWN-car person”. They still seem different to me. (I didn’t downvote, though I wouldn’t blame people if they downvoted this entire sub-conversation for pedantry.)
I would note that the original point was specifically about the use of the hyphen; there is no need for an example to match the case of interest in every aspect in order to be illustrative of the relevant aspect(s).
though I wouldn’t blame people if they downvoted this entire sub-conversation for pedantry
I don’t think that’s a fair characterization. No one was correcting anyone’s grammar. This sub-conversation began with an inquiry by Alicorn about a particular individual’s usage habits. If your implication is that the details of language are somehow not as “worthy” a subject for discussion on LW as many other similarly “esoteric” subjects discussed here, I protest.
(I assume) because it is being used to modify a following word.
Compare:
vs.
I mentioned the same thing, but I just discovered a difficulty with our hypothesis. A few comments above, he hyphenated it a couple times even though it wasn’t being used to modify a subsequent word. Instead, it seemed completely random, for he didn’t hyphenate it earlier in the comment despite there not seeming to be any relevant difference in usage.
Oh. Well, in that case I would chalk it up to the old-fashioned habit of hyphenating most if not all compound words. (“Magnifying-glass”, etc.)
If you believe wikipedia ice-cream is the older and “proper” spelling.
Doesn’t feel the same to me. One is adjective noun, the other is noun noun. It affects the intonation. “I’m a blue CAR person” vs “I’m a CLOWN car person”.
Compare:
vs.
Not the most natural-sounding example, but the point should nevertheless be intact. It’s noun noun, yet still works out the same way as komponisto’s original noun-adjective example.
I don’t agree; if you’re contrasting blue-car people with red-car people, the stress is on the first component. And if there is no context at all, I would read “blue-car person” as “BLUE-CAR person” (i.e. stress on the modifier relative to the modified, but not on either component of the modifier relative to the other).
OK, so compare “BLUE-CAR person” with “CLOWN-car person”. They still seem different to me. (I didn’t downvote, though I wouldn’t blame people if they downvoted this entire sub-conversation for pedantry.)
I would note that the original point was specifically about the use of the hyphen; there is no need for an example to match the case of interest in every aspect in order to be illustrative of the relevant aspect(s).
I don’t think that’s a fair characterization. No one was correcting anyone’s grammar. This sub-conversation began with an inquiry by Alicorn about a particular individual’s usage habits. If your implication is that the details of language are somehow not as “worthy” a subject for discussion on LW as many other similarly “esoteric” subjects discussed here, I protest.