Some grammar help please?

[TheHouseOnTheLane]

Should the phrase below have hyphens? If yes or no, could you please explain why in idiot speak?

"In this book,Tara factors in the realities of life as a nurse with practical and easy-to-implement advice."

[Wobblystraddle]

Adverbs should never be hyphenated as there can be no mistaking which other word in the noun phrase it refers to. Hyphens are for clarity in noun phrases.

You're right about my terminology, catford. In my defence, a pp used the term as I copied it cos I'm tired.

The trouble with being someone whose job is to uphold grammar, is that you inevitably make mistakes and people always point them out when you do

[Pipbin]

What about when you use it like this?
Being the grammar police is rather like a who-can-piss-highest-up-a-wall competition.

[MillionToOneChances]

Nobody here is being the grammar police, pipbin. It's just a polite conversation about grammar, not somebody policing a thread on an unrelated topic.

At worst, this is like a lunchtime chat in the secretly-judgy grammar-nuts' canteen

[MillionToOneChances]

Actually, secretly-judgy grammar nuts would be clearer on the rules

[TracyBarlow]

Oh but I love the grammar police. I'm genuinely in awe of all the people who know all the rules on this thread. I think they're dead clever. I wish I'd listened in my English language GCSE degree

[Pipbin]

That came across badly.
I didn't actually mean that about the grammar police.
What I was referring to is that way of using hyphens.

[Wobblystraddle]

Million, I'm assuming that's ur use of a hyphen in the phrase 'secretly jiffy' was ironic?

Pipbin , there is a difference between correcting someone's grammar unsolicited and explaining points of grammar on request.

Well done on your use of hyphens, by the way.

[Wobblystraddle]

...that your...

[Wobblystraddle]

Jiffy wtaf?

I'm going to give up now.

[MillionToOneChances]

I'm chuckling at 'jiffy'. I can have a hyphen in secretly-judgy as it's an adjective (I think), but can't seem to decide about grammar nuts.

Sorry pipkin, I read so many anti-grammar police comments that I might be a tad defensive

[WitchWay]

Lots of words that used to be compounds with hyphens are just words now - try reading an old book:

"to-day", "to-night" for example

[DadDadDad]

No, because secretly is an adverb, so as someone explained earlier no hyphen needed.

[TwistInMySobriety]

Adverbs should never be hyphenated as there can be no mistaking which other word in the noun phrase it refers to

I disagree. In "a fast-flowing river" fast is an adverb but it needs hyphenating to distinguish it from the adjectival use "a fast, deep river".

And no hyphen in secretly judgy :-)

[StrawberryTeaLeaf]

What about goady-fuckery? I feel quite strongly that that needs a hyphen

[IrenetheQuaint]

Hyphenation has changed amazingly over the last 150 years - I was reading a Victorian novel the other day which referred to 'Liverpool-street' rather than Liverpool Street.

[anothernumberone]

I have to ask why in fast-flowing is the flowing not considered to be an adjective rather than fast being an adverb. Sat the sentence is the man jumped into the fast-flowing river I would consider jumped to be the verb in the sentence and fast- flowing an adjective.

[anothernumberone]

Sat = say

[anothernumberone]

Obviously I should have put a whole lot of commas into those sentences but hopefully you get what I am asking.

[Pipbin]

So what about things like holier-than-thou attitude?

[clam]

I would hyphenate, but I can't explain how I know!

[DadDadDad]

Part of the confusion with the last few comments may be that friendly its an adjective not an adverb. It's easy to be fooled because it ends ly, but "the friendly dog" shows it's not an adverb, unlike secretly.

[TwistInMySobriety]

Fast-flowing is a compound adjective qualifyng river, but fast is also an adverb qualifying flowing.