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Editing conundrum! Most of us are aware of the intricacies of the 'foot versus feet' rule.
In a novel I make reference to, 'four-feet fluorescent lights', which I believe is correct.
In daily talk, most of us would say, four-foot etc.
AND, am I right to hyphenate?
Opinions please? Ta!
Comments
If the fluorescent light has four feet (individual ones that they are resting on) then I'd leave out the hyphen.
But I assume the lights are four-feet high...
I think is sounds better to say 4ft light or four foot light [adding 'strip might help], so four foot strip light.
I'm not sure we'd use the abbreviated form in formal writing. For an advertising brochure or fencing quote maybe, but a novel?
Sure, we are accustomed to writing mph for speed, but you've all answered my query as 'feet' rather than 'foot', so thanks.
Now I'll start a different thread for another one.
Oxford Style Manual says:
All units of measurement retain their singular form when they are compounded to form hyphenated adjectives before other nouns.
A five-pound note; a six-foot wall, a nine-inch nail.
Fowlers:
foot and feet alternate when used as a unit of length or height - she is five feet tall/she is five foot tall.
When such a phrase is used attributively a hyphen is normally placed between the numeral and FOOT: a 12-foot dinghy. Where inches are also used, foot is more common than feet. He is six foot three.
He didn't understand what was wrong as he'd got everything just as he'd ordered and it all fitted perfectly.
Assuming he'd made an amusing spelling mistake (he often does) I took a look. All his measurements were in metres and inches and decimals of inches. Eg 4 metres, 13.75 inches.
Perhaps the Style Manual should be my next investment.
I suspect it dates from when architects and masons measured with pieces of string marked into foot lengths with knots.
PM, most DIYers who weren't brought up in the metric system still buy, for example, 3-metre lengths of 4x4 wood. In fact, until fairly recently, that's how it was still sold. I remember querying it with the arch-renovator, Mr Bear, at the time.
A word of warning though, as my return compliment; don't let Mr Bear see you refer to his precious material as 'wood'. I bet he would (sorry!) correct you to 'timber'!!