Why Hyphens are Important

[gnomi]

Because there are differences among:

-- stinky-fish-eating coworker
-- stinky fish-eating coworker
-- stinky fish eating coworker

If a stinky fish were eating my coworker, I'd be concerned. The other two are just annoyances.

Comments

Re: nitpick

[thespisgeoff.livejournal.com]

Hrmm.
You're right; I've always thought of the difference between "between" and "among" as more amorphous, but it's pretty cut-and-dry based on the number of subjects.

I have been schooled.

Re: nitpick

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Well, it does get murkier than that, but, yes. Traditional AmE usage is "between" for two and "among" for three or more.