With regards to hyphenation. What are the rules? Over the years I've seen people put in hyphens all over the place. Often incorrectly, as in words like Coordinate. Also. Why on earth isn't the word "to-day" hyphenated anymore? Who moves the goal posts?



Lastly, with regards to "O" Levels. Where in English do you remove part of a word, like Ordinary and replace it with a hyphen? An apostrophe, yes, as in O'Clock for "of the clock" but a hyphen? I'm not mocking (exam joke, sorry) nor suggesting FA is wrong, but I am truly wondering why and where it's O-Level? It was never written on any of the O or A papers like that from memory. Has it become that like some sort of trade name?

O-level is pointless, the hyphen is misused.

O' level follows the rule of an apostrophe standing in for something omitted but is, nonetheless, rather clumsy.

The thread title is fine and O level is fine, and that was the nomenclature ascribed to it at its inception.



If one really wanted to be so pernickety about apostrophes for abbreviations then shouldn't it be O'level's, in which the second apostrophe is not, as it might appear, the common "greengrocer's apostrophe" misused for a plural but to indicate the missing word "examination"?.

Compound adjective. The hyphen is essential.





(unless you're exclaiming in surprise at discovering some level English, of course. "O, level English!"

The master of pedantry has emerged from 'neath the undergrowth!

What about the spoken word, especially 'bath'?



Why do some people insist on referring to it as a 'baath', when they'd never dream of sending anything on a 'vaan' or cooling themselves with a 'faan'?

Phonetically it's more like 'barth'. The same reason why some folk travel to work on the 'buzz'. Your regional variation, innit.

It's not. It's O-level.

No, that would be "Oh, level English", shurley?



"O" on it's own in would be used in an entreating context, as in "O, that this too too solid flesh would melt". "Oh" tends to suggest surprise, etc.



If you were addressing level English directly, you might or might not use a comma. For example

"O Hamlet, speak no more!"

"O, speak to me no more!"



Both usages are admirably exemplified in one of the most beautiful passages of English conversation ever written, between Hamlet and Gertrude, in the following exchange:-

[iGertrude. =#BF0000O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.

Hamlet. =#4040FFO, throw away the worser part of it,

And live the purer with the other half[/i



Unless you're American, in which case you'd say "Oh! Carol".

Quote tb="tb"Compound adjective. The hyphen is essential.'" The BBC suggest compound adjectives "normally" have hyphens between them. Not as essential as you claim. www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learn ... v224.shtml

Quote tb="tb"Compound adjective. The hyphen is essential.'" The BBC suggest compound adjectives "normally" have hyphens between them. Not as essential as you claim. www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learn ... v224.shtml

Who cares about a low grade examination? It should be semi-literate.

Or in London, BARF.



Water and other words that have a T in the middle (or should that be int middle to you lot?), we often drop the strong T sound in Lunden especially when said quickly.



war~ar



or



ba~ar (you spread on bread)

le~er (you write and post)

Do they still have the S Level in Scotland?

No idea. Only been over the wall once. Came back next day.

Was that for good behaviour?

Quote Rooster Booster="Rooster Booster"The BBC suggest compound adjectives "normally" have hyphens between them. Not as essential as you claim. www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learn ... v224.shtml'" They are essential. Like i is essential before e. The fact that there are specific and very limited exceptions only serves to prove the rule. As the popular saying confirms.

Quote Rooster Booster="Rooster Booster"The BBC suggest compound adjectives "normally" have hyphens between them. Not as essential as you claim. www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learn ... v224.shtml'" They are essential. Like i is essential before e. The fact that there are specific and very limited exceptions only serves to prove the rule. As the popular saying confirms.

How then do people who come out of the barth not walk down the parth?

Let the BBC know then.

It's baff, as in 'gunnarav a baff'

According to this week's QI, there are actually more words in the English language that don't conform to the "I before E except after C" rule than there are that do conform to it. Which is weird.

Or saying "He's got 8 O levels", in which case we are into compound noun territory.

I see Billybop has not joined in his own debate

Adjetive and the noun it describes. No need for a hyphen (any more than you'd hyphenate 'he has five red balls'). Noun and adjective used together as an adjectival phrase, or compound adjective, requires a hyphen.



It's a very simple rule.

Anyway - the definitive guide to hyphenation from the last style guide wot I wrote.

I knew there was a reason I took Wudwerk and not Inglish at skool

Would you like a 'c' with that?