RE: Warning re Christopher James book

[Richard Knoppow <dickburk@ix.netcom.com>]

At 03:09 PM 3/10/2008, you wrote:

> On Mon, 10 Mar 2008, BOB KISS wrote:
>
> > DEAR JUDY,
> >         Just a quick question regarding grammar.  Shouldn't it be "sets-up"
> > not "set-ups"?  I defer to your knowledge so please advise...
> >                 CHEERS!
> >                         BOB
> Well Bob, be my guest -- but I think the hyphen turns the whole 
> thing into the noun. "Sets-up" feels awkward & unclear (to me 
> anyway) plus we're only doing one at a time.
>
> HOWEVER, you force me to consult the Oxford American Dictionary, 
> which lists both "set-to" and "set-up" as nouns. "Set-to" is "a 
> fight or argument (colloquial)"; "set-up" has 4 meanings, the first 
> being "an arrangement or organization," the last "the glass, ice, 
> mixers, etc., for preparing alcoholic drinks."
>
> cheers,
>
> Judy
     I think in all four definitions of "set-up" there is the common 
factor that each is an "arrangement" of something. In this use 
set-up, with or without the hyphen, is a noun referring to something 
that exists so IMO the plural should be the same as for any other 
noun or object, that is, the S goes on the end vis: set-ups.  As a 
verb I think the hyphen is not necessary or correct as in "Can you 
set up these lights?"  The resulting arrangement of lights would be 
called a set-up. If there is more than one it would become set-ups as 
in "What lighting set-ups do you have for the scenes in this play?"
    Those with a deep and abiding interest in this sort of stuff 
should visit the news group _alt.usage.english.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@ix.netcom.com