I read the title of this post and, before scrolling down, imagined you tossing some grilled cheese (raclette, maybe?) and a few tomatoes into a blender.
Shall I rephrase? How about this: It is far less common to hyphenate a soup name than not. Since the point of all of this is my disappointment that you did not in fact make a soup consisting of grilled cheese and tomato, I think it's a fair point.
You want a real challenge? Make some actual grilled cheese and tomato soup!
Technically, it's not an Oxford comma if you have fewer than 3 items in the list. "Grilled cheese and tomato soup" is fairly unambiguous; you kind of have to stretch yourself mentally to argue that it's ambiguous. That said, I realize Charles is just yanking chains, but I'd still like to try his challenge: the cheese in grilled cheese would make a tomato soup cheesier, and bread has been used as a thickener for centuries.
I have to behave myself for the rest of this week as I'm due for a doctor's checkup, but next week, I'll try out Charles's challenge. My immersion blender is going to get a workout.
"How about this: It is far less common to hyphenate a soup name than not."
This is probably because most of the people naming their soups have no idea about proper hyphenation, not because soup names represent a grammatically special category. "Potato lentil soup" is incorrect; "potato-lentil soup" is correct.
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10 comments:
I read the title of this post and, before scrolling down, imagined you tossing some grilled cheese (raclette, maybe?) and a few tomatoes into a blender.
Disappointed.
There would have been hyphens.
Nobody hyphenates soup names.
All I need to do is find a single exception to that claim to invalidate it.
Challenge accepted.
Hyphenated soup names!
Example 1 (although still not properly hyphenated)
Example 2
Example 3
I believe I've made my point, good sir.
Oh, and there's an amusing discussion of "hot dog soup" versus "hot-dog soup" here.
Shall I rephrase? How about this: It is far less common to hyphenate a soup name than not. Since the point of all of this is my disappointment that you did not in fact make a soup consisting of grilled cheese and tomato, I think it's a fair point.
You want a real challenge? Make some actual grilled cheese and tomato soup!
Mmmm.. I had a croque monsieur with tomato bisque today and our local French place. Quite tasty.
Was this a true grilled cheese? :)
Wouldn't an Oxford comma have helped here? Grilled cheese, and soup.
Mike,
Technically, it's not an Oxford comma if you have fewer than 3 items in the list. "Grilled cheese and tomato soup" is fairly unambiguous; you kind of have to stretch yourself mentally to argue that it's ambiguous. That said, I realize Charles is just yanking chains, but I'd still like to try his challenge: the cheese in grilled cheese would make a tomato soup cheesier, and bread has been used as a thickener for centuries.
I have to behave myself for the rest of this week as I'm due for a doctor's checkup, but next week, I'll try out Charles's challenge. My immersion blender is going to get a workout.
Charles,
"How about this: It is far less common to hyphenate a soup name than not."
This is probably because most of the people naming their soups have no idea about proper hyphenation, not because soup names represent a grammatically special category. "Potato lentil soup" is incorrect; "potato-lentil soup" is correct.
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