ten-dollar-worth

[ROFTOK]

It's OK to make a sentence like "He is a two-year-old child".

Is it also correct to say "This is ten-dollar-worth candy"?

It seems to be wrong. What do you say?

 

[5jj]

No.

This is ten dollars' worth of candy.

 

[Holmes]

It would be possible to say "This is ten-dollar-priced candy" if the candy were worth ten dollars apiece, but most people would just say "This is ten-dollar candy" in that case.

 

[5jj]

"This is ten-dollar-priced candy"

That sounds most unnatural to me.

 

[Holmes]

That sounds most unnatural to me.

It's a point about what's possible grammatically. Please read the rest of my sentence. I give the natural construction too.

 

[5jj]

It's a point about what's possible grammatically.

It does not seem grammatical to me.

 

[Holmes]

It does not seem grammatical to me.

Well, it does seem grammatical to me. Do you not see the grammatical pattern it exemplifies? Would you like me to help you to perceive its grammaticality?

 

[White Hat]

It seems like a very rare usage. Here's another example: "And, in a world of forty-dollar-priced water bottles that waffle between status symbols and fashion accessories, Nalgene remains a tried and true staple at a cost-effective price of under fifteen dollars" (by Ron & Lisa Beres; https://ronandlisa.com/the-make-everyday-earth-day-sweepstakes/).

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm with 5jj in that I would class "ten-dollar priced candy" and "forty-dollar-priced water bottles" as ungrammatical. Maybe they're used and are considered natural in AmE and wherever WhiteHat picked up their English, but they're considered wrong in BrE.

 

[White Hat]

That's what I absolutely love about this great language - it is so multi-faceted! And by the way I'm a male. So you may use 'his'.

 

[emsr2d2]

And by the way I'm a male. So you may use 'his'.

And I can, and did, choose to be non-specific.

 

[Tarheel]

I'm with 5jj in that I would class "ten-dollar priced candy" and "forty-dollar-priced water bottles" as ungrammatical. Maybe they're used and are considered natural in AmE and wherever WhiteHat picked up their English, but they're considered wrong in BrE.

Take the "priced" off and you have "ten-dollar candy" -- a fairly common type of expression.

 

[Holmes]

I'm with 5jj in that I would class "ten-dollar priced candy" and "forty-dollar-priced water bottles" as ungrammatical. Maybe they're used and are considered natural in AmE and wherever WhiteHat picked up their English, but they're considered wrong in BrE.

Shall learners here be led, then, to believe that no competent British speaker perceives the pattern [number]+[unit]+[past participle] [head noun] to be grammatical?

• Twelve-year-aged whisky is the best. (whisky that has been aged ten years)
• Three-coat-painted walls look really nice. (walls that have received three coats of paint)

Do you and 5jj say those are not only unnatural but totally ungrammatical to all competent speakers of British English? Only some sloppy Americans might accept them.

What do you make of the 749 Google results for "dollar-priced products," the 2980 results for "penny-priced product," and the 1290 results for "penny-priced options"?

The trouble with calling things ungrammatical is that you're saying the underlying pattern is faulty. It's much safer to stick to mere subjective judgements about naturalness.

 

[5jj]

Shall learners here be led, then, to believe that no competent British speaker perceives the pattern [number]+[unit]+[past participle] [head noun] to be grammatical?

I was speaking specifically of 'a ten-dollar-priced candy'

• Twelve-year-aged whisky is the best. (whisky that has been aged ten years)
• Three-coat-painted walls look really nice. (walls that have received three coats of paint)

Do you and 5jj say those are not only unnatural but totally ungrammatical to all competent speakers of British English?

The first of those two seems OK to me; the second does not.

Only some sloppy Americans might accept them.

Don't be silly.

What do you make of the 749 Google results for "dollar-priced products," the 2980 results for "penny-priced product," and the 1290 results for "penny-priced options"?

I think that there is a difference between 'penny-priced options' and 'a ten-dollar-priced candy'

 

[Tarheel]

It seems odd to me that twelve-year-old aged whiskey is whiskey that has been aged ten years..

 

[5jj]

I missed that.