Andrei  +  59310 Sat, 04 Dec 04 04:30 PM The 2004 Miss World is about to be chosen - and for the first time TV audiences will be taking part. They can vote for their favourite beauties by phone, SMS text messaging, TV remote control and online. The winner will be picked from 15 finalists - chosen in Saturday's final from a line-up of 107 contestants. What is the meaniing of those hyphenations? Obviously the words ' The 2004 Miss World is about to be chosen ' cannot stand alone. You should write something like ' The 2004 Miss World is about to be chosen in China/ from a large number of contestants. Would you tell me the meaning of hyphens? Andrei Joined on Sat, May 29 2004 Full Member 387 Hyphens

	CalifJim  +  59338 Sat, 04 Dec 04 07:08 PM Actually, they are not hyphens; they're dashes. Dashes are often used in informal styles. They often set off material which is secondary in importance. They can also show where a short pause might be taken in speech, or where the author's thinking has suddenly taken a turn toward a different but related idea. In many cases, the text could have been written without the dashes, commas being sufficient. "The 2004 Miss World is about to be chosen" is completely fine standing alone, by the way. It's a complete, grammatical sentence. CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,465 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Commas, Hyphens

	Andrei  +  59352 Sat, 04 Dec 04 09:36 PM Thanks CalifjJim On refllection, I would agree with you to say ' The 2004 Miss World is about to be chosen.' It was a stupid mistake from me. Sometimes it is not easy to distinguish between a dash and a hyphen. Andrei Hyphens

	MrPedantic  +  59370 Sun, 05 Dec 04 01:34 AM The 2004 Miss World is about to be chosen - and for the first time TV audiences will be taking part. It seems to me that '2004 Miss World' has been forced to play two grammatical roles here. In the first part of the sentence, it's the victorious female. In the second part of the sentence, it's the show itself. Surely this is more than we can reasonably expect of any potential Miss World. MrP MrPedantic Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004 Veteran Member 12,592 ...opella forensis / adducit febris...

	CalifJim  +  59415 Sun, 05 Dec 04 05:59 AM Mr. P, I understand completely. And yet I wonder. Would you have had the same reaction if the ending of the sentence had been changed slightly, as follows: The 2004 Miss World is about to be chosen - and for the first time TV audiences will be taking part in the choice. The 2004 Miss World is about to be chosen - and for the first time TV audiences will be helping to choose her. ? CJ CalifJim

	MrPedantic  +  59532 Sun, 05 Dec 04 10:51 PM Hello CJ I think I would have been happier with either of those when in 'picky' mode; while still (in an odd way) preferring the original. 'Sleight-of-grammar' has a certain charm. MrP MrPedantic Grammar