Punctuation police prosecute 'Virgin'

Categories: Film

Turns out the biggest controversy associated with The 40 Year-Old Virgin stems not from its bawdy humor but from its grammatically questionable title. According to trade journal Editor & Publisher, the title has America’s copy editors in a tizzy because it’s missing the hyphen between 40 and Year. (That’s how it’s punctuated, at least, on official promotional materials, like the movie’s website.) Should newspapers and magazines correct the apparent error or print the official title the way the filmmakers presented it? And where did that missing hyphen dash off to, anyway? Maybe it was torn away with Steve Carell’s chest hair. (By the way, E&P, if you’re going to publish a lengthy article on such nitpickery, you ought to spell the star’s name correctly; in your caption, you call him ”Carrell.”)

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Almost 40-year-old virgin
Thu 08/25/05 1:27 AM

I got the hyphenation right in the title of my new blog, before I even read this post.
I guess us virgins have good grammar because we spend a lot of time reading while other people are having sex.

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Grammar Goddess
Thu 08/25/05 1:54 PM

As one of those pesky editors that noticed the hyphen error the first time I saw the movie title, I’ll admit that it bugs me ridiculously. I’ll also say that a long article on the necessity of the hyphen, a necessary, and in this case, outright ignored, punctuation mark, is not a bad thing. But rather than give the editors a hard time about pointing this out, let’s educate people on why it was necessary. (An adjective that describes “virgin” requires it.)
Of course, writers and bloggers who correct the punctuation in their own copy engage in another of my editorial pet peeves: inconsistency.

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Baco Noir
Thu 08/25/05 4:13 PM

Here in Canada, at least, the billboards for the film actually contained both hyphens. I’m with the theory that it was ripped off when Carell’s hair came off his chest.

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Tue 02/26/08 6:04 PM

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