fortune tellers or fortune-tellers?

Tiny Nell

This is something I wasn't able to find in my Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors (as recommended by Ms Books). I've looked it up on t'Internet and have found 'fortune-telling' and 'fortune tellers'.

Any thoughts?

Carol

My big 2006 Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus shows it as fortune-telling/teller. But it may be one of those word pairs that have now lost their hyphen.

Mrs Bear

OED: fortune-teller

Tiny Nell

Ah, thanks, ladies. A hyphen it is!

MarkHempshell

Sorry to be awkward but I think fortune-telling looks really odd and if I saw it somewhere I'd think the writer had made a mistake. After all, you wouldn't put story-telling. (Or would you?)

Tiny Nell

I'd put storytelling...

Mrs Bear

Oh dear, I've just had a Max Bygraves moment. I blame that MarkHempshell.
TN is right - the OED agrees with her.

Tiny Nell

What am I right about, Mrs Bear?

*glows with pride*

Mrs Bear

Storytelling, TN. Go to the top of the class.

Tiny Nell

\:D/

snailmale

teacher's pet. :-))

Mrs Bear

:> You there - that boy on the bicycle. Detention after school!

Baggy Books

*smirks*

Tiny Nell

O:-)

Baggy Books

*lobs chewing gum into TN's hair*

Tiny Nell

Miss! Miss! There's a naughty girl in the corner. She needs her muffin confiscated.

Lizy

Sneak.

Baggy Books

*slips chewing gum wrapper into S&M's Lycra shorts*

Miss! I feel sick!

Tiny Nell

You need to wash your hands.

Baggy Books

*sniffs*

Miss! Need the bog!

Mrs Bear

*sighs*
You will all sit down in silence - IN SILENCE, I SAID - and you will write down one hundred times, "The square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the opposing two sides."
(You didn't really think I'd open the can of worms that begins with, 'You will write 'I must not...''did you?)
And I'll have that muffin on my desk, if you please.
(I was so close to getting away, too...)

Tiny Nell

*sweeps up debris and polishes thread to a sparkly shine*

Mrs Bear

Thank you, TN. You are excused detention and hypotenusing.

snailmale

*asks parents for transfer to boys school*

Mrs Bear

They'll laugh at your skirt there, you know.

Tiny Nell

*stifles a giggle*

Baggy Books

*sneaks a peek*

snailmale

*shocked beyond words*

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEBBO !!!

Tiny Nell

*fans Baggy wildly to help her come round*

heather

I feel a spoonerism coming on...

Tiny Nell

No! Stop, I command you, heather! =;

Baggy Books

I will not be banned!

heather

You weren't going to be...

Baggy Books

:-*

heather

For someone so tiny, TN is very bossy, isn't she?
In my family, they say I'm the bossy one (not true of course) but on here I don't stand a chance. (TN is also quite scary and, I hear, she has pink bits that jut.)

Tiny Nell

*roars*

How scary was that?

*puts on onesie to hide jutting pink bits*

Tiny Nell

*has returned momentarily to thread to check correct consonant was typed*

*exits, relieved*

Baggy Books

Scary and insecure.

*sighs*

heather

Eeeeeek! :-S

Claudia

Ooh, what you all said... "> :-O

snailmale

As I recollect Hitler and Napoleon were both on the short-arse side, heather, and they put it about a bit.

Tiny Nell

*puts it about a bit more*

snailmale

As I recollect Hitler and Napoleon were both on the short-arse side, heather, and they put it about a bit.

Should that be short-arse or shortarse?

Or short arse?

Confused of Worcester.

heather

Quote from my dear old mum recently:-
"Is it Napoleon who's on the top of Nelson's Column?"

Betsie

My book says fortune-teller

Betsie

I think TN should be a trifle more secretive about the jutting pink whatevers