General Discussion

Smarmie Doofus

(14,498 posts) Sun Jul 13, 2014, 08:21 AM Jul 2014

Does this sentence re. Ian Thorpe comprise a punctuation emergency?

>>>>Thorpe was known for using his trademark six-beat kick to power away from his rivals in the closing stages of races, the effectiveness of which was attributed to his unusually large size 17 feet.[34][236]>>>>> wikipedia

Or is it ok as stand-alone?

My original read was that it was "He's actually 17 feet tall." typo. ( What a cheater!)

I realize now that they mean that he has "size-17 feet". ( Still doesn't seem quite fair.) But would that be made less ambiguous by use of the hyphenated "size-17"? Or would that be superfluous?

Mr. Thorpe is on my mind today because of this: http://www.democraticunderground.com/113739062

But punctuation, and esp. commas and hyphens, ......their use, misuse and criminal omissions..... are never far away.

8 replies

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Does this sentence re. Ian Thorpe comprise a punctuation emergency? (Original Post) Smarmie Doofus Jul 2014 OP

The article is inconsistent. KansDem Jul 2014 #1

And evidently I'm doing it myself. Smarmie Doofus Jul 2014 #2

I say it's poor diction rock Jul 2014 #3

The sentence needs to be 2 TexasProgresive Jul 2014 #4

Two sentences for clarity. TransitJohn Jul 2014 #5

Reads like mercuryblues Jul 2014 #6

I think it's best as it is muriel_volestrangler Jul 2014 #7

If you must use a hypen, SheilaT Jul 2014 #8

KansDem

(28,498 posts)

1. The article is inconsistent.

Reply to Smarmie Doofus (Original post)

Sun Jul 13, 2014, 08:48 AM

Jul 2014

A compound adjective is used here: ...six-beat kick, but not here, ...size 17 feet.

Compound adjectives have become problematic lately. The lack of hyphens make for difficult-to-understand reading.

Smarmie Doofus

(14,498 posts)

2. And evidently I'm doing it myself.

Reply to KansDem (Reply #1)

Sun Jul 13, 2014, 09:09 AM

Jul 2014

It's: "size 17-feet".

Not: " size-17 feet".

"Compound adjective": a recurring sub-theme in the move/play, The History Boys.

I can't find a good video-link.... but it's eminently google-able.

Great movie, btw.

rock

(13,218 posts)

3. I say it's poor diction

Reply to Smarmie Doofus (Original post)

Sun Jul 13, 2014, 09:30 AM

Jul 2014

and recommend (as a minimum) "... attributed to his unusually large feet, which are size 17."

TexasProgresive

(12,157 posts)

4. The sentence needs to be 2

Reply to Smarmie Doofus (Original post)

Sun Jul 13, 2014, 09:47 AM

Jul 2014

Or:
Thorp's six-beat kick, powered by his size 17 feet, hurtles him past his rivals in the homestretch.

I got a laugh Friday night. I looked up at the TV and a man was wearing a shirt that read, "I am silently correcting your grammar."

Here's one:

TransitJohn

(6,932 posts)

5. Two sentences for clarity.

Reply to Smarmie Doofus (Original post)

Sun Jul 13, 2014, 09:52 AM

Jul 2014

Thorpe was known for using his trademark six-beat kick to power away from his rivals in the closing stages of races. The effectiveness of this technique was attributed to his unusually large size 17 feet.

mercuryblues

(14,531 posts)

6. Reads like

Reply to Smarmie Doofus (Original post)

Sun Jul 13, 2014, 10:01 AM

Jul 2014

Palin the sports journalist wrote it.

muriel_volestrangler

(101,318 posts)

7. I think it's best as it is

Reply to Smarmie Doofus (Original post)

Sun Jul 13, 2014, 10:34 AM

Jul 2014

As you've now realised, 'size-17' is not the normal way of writing a show size. "Size 17-feet" looks weird to me; it ties the '17' to the 'feet', not to the 'size'. It's normally written without any hyphen: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22size-10-shoes%22+|+%22size-10-boots%22+|+%22size-10-feet%22

If you're really that concerned about consistency, then think about 'six-beat'. But that looks OK to me.

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)

8. If you must use a hypen,

Reply to Smarmie Doofus (Original post)

Sun Jul 13, 2014, 10:36 AM

Jul 2014

keep in mind that size and 17 go together in meaning, not 17 and feet.

If he were 17 feet tall, you would not be using a hyphen in any case.

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