Hi, Is it still 'the rule' to hyphenate multi-word modifiers when they occur in front of their heads, but not after it, as in: The child is six years old. The six-year-old child ... This is an extension for a laptop computer. This is a laptop-computer extension. ? I was recently compiling an editing-tips webpage (there it is again!) for my students, and decided to spell-check it on Netscape. Netscape told me to remove ALL hyphens in multi-word premodifiers. My word processor doesn't do this. Is there confusion out there in Webworld? Or in my addled brain? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Johanna Rubba Assistant Professor, Linguistics ~ English Department, California Polytechnic State University ~ San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 ~ Tel. (805)-756-2184 Fax: (805)-756-6374 ~ E-mail: [log in to unmask] ~ Office hours Winter 1999: Mon/Wed 10:10-11am Thurs 2:10-3pm ~ Home page: http://www.calpoly.edu/~jrubba ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~