Quote:
Originally Posted by mykwyner  Actually, in your example the take-it-all phrase is being used as an adjective. However, for compounds of this type (regardless of the part of speech), always use hyphens to show that the group of words is a single unit of meaning. |
Indeed, that is how I look at it as well. To my mind, there are no true strict rules when it comes to using an adjective. When you are into a conversation and you want to make something clear, you often go for the use of a adjective like in your example sentence. Sometimes you make or have to make one up, to make yourself clear. It can be an obligatory. When I use one during a conversation I tend to indicate it with my fingers by making the hyphens-sign ( "......")
.... ok ok Don't laugh at me
That's what makes the English language so interesting because there are no strict rules towards this.
Kind regards