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Do you feel these are correct with the hyphens and absence of commas?

a 2-hour 15-minute traffic delay (Instead of: a 2-hour, 15-minute traffic delay)

a 7-pound 11-ounce newborn (Instead of: a 7-pound, 11-ounce newborn)

a 6-foot 8-inch basketball player (Instead of: a 6-foot, 8-inch basketball player)

a 2-year 5-month 17-day project (Look OK without commas?)

The project lasted 2 years 5 months 17 days. (Good without commas?)

If "and" is used, is it OK to forgo the commas as well?

The project lasted 2 years 5 months and 17 days.

Do all examples above look to be correctly punctuated without the commas? I don't think the commas aid readability in the slightest. Do you agree?

Thank you.

whippoorwill
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    Oh, honestly. Look in a style guide, and see what they advise. If you don't like it, look in a different style guide. Use Morse Code. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 11 '15 at 17:32

1 Answers1

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Normally commas are used (amongst other things) to separate multiple adjectives:

That is a stylish table.
That is a modern table.
That is a stylish, modern table.

Your examples are not multiple adjectives, ie you do not mean:

a 2-hour traffic delay
AND a 15-minute traffic delay

So it could be argued that you do not need commas.

HOWEVER - think of your readers. The rules of punctuation were not sent down from heaven, never to be altered. Punctuation is a human creation intended to help readers understand text, in the absence of tone of voice, facial expression, hand gestures etc. If you decide to help your readers' brain patterns and include some commas, that's fine. If you also decide to include and - a 2-hour and 15-minute traffic delay - that's also Ok. It's a matter of personal style.

Mynamite
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  • I wonder, in your last suggestion, why hyphenate "2-hour" but not "15 minute"? – Brian Hitchcock Jan 12 '15 at 06:15
  • @BrianHitchcock That's a typo, I meant to copy the OP's original, thanks for pointing it out. There's a missing apostrophe too! – Mynamite Jan 12 '15 at 11:19
  • I would think that replacing every word space in the phrase "two-hour-and-fifteen-minute" or "2-hour-and-15-minute" would be clearer than using non-hyphenated word spaces around "and". I think most people speaking times in hours and minutes would use the conjunction "and", even though they would not do for heights measured in feet and inches (indeed, for heights, the "inches" may be omitted when writing "feet" or "foot"; a person may be 76 inches tall or six-foot-four). – supercat Jan 19 '15 at 19:09