Hyphenating "blue and white micro stripe Armani dress shirt."

Question

What's the correct way to hyphenate the below sentence: Still fit at thirty three, his health club chest neatly filled out a blue and white micro stripe Armani dress shirt.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

on 28 Dec 2003:
[nq:1]What's the correct way to hyphenate the below sentence: Still fit at thirty three, his health club chest neatly filled out a blue and white micro stripe Armani dress shirt.[/nq]
*"Still fit at thirty-three, his health-club chest neatly filled out a blue and white micro-stripe Armani dress shirt."

This sentence needs to be rewritten to make it grammatical. As it stands, it says that "his" chest is both 33 years old and still fit, not that "he" is 33 years old and still fit. I don't think you want to say that.

Semantically, too, it is a bit strange. Thirty-three is not old (unless you are 16 or so and think anyone over 30 is over the hill as well), so the introductory phrase doesn't work for me. And these days, it appears to be the very young who are not fit, not 33-year-old youngsters.

"his health-club chest" is, if you will pardon my saying so, an awful image. It doesn't work. It calls to (my) mind a chest of drawers and not a man's well-developed thoracic section.

I think it's back to the drawing board for your sentence. Unless you're trying to win that "It was a dark and stormy night" writing contest. If so, forget about the hyphens.

-- Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor.

Hyphenating "blue and white micro stripe Armani dress shirt."

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