I described a girl as a "redhead." An editor suggested I change it to "redhaired." The editor said: "her head isn't red, but her hair is."
"Redhaired" sounds awkward to me. Should I change it anyway?
I described a girl as a "redhead." An editor suggested I change it to "redhaired." The editor said: "her head isn't red, but her hair is."
"Redhaired" sounds awkward to me. Should I change it anyway?
"redhead" is fine. Some editors can be ridiculously pedantic, which is one reason I stopped using them. I'm having the same problem with Grammarly lately. I find myself dismissing more and more of the suggestions that program makes.
And there's always the term "ginger", which seems to have its own special appeal for me.
I agree with this assessment. You could compromise a little and use 'redhaired' for the first mention, maybe add a descriptor like 'redhaired like an orange' or hopefully something better. Afterwards, you just use redhead and the reader will have their mental image already.
Or just stick with redhead. No one will care or be confused.
'redhaired like an orange'
The redheads I know in real life that aren't dark red (almost auburn) are closer to copper than orange.
I know, I couldn't think of something better at that moment. That's why I added, "...or hopefully something better". I'm not in creative writing mode lol.
I'm having the same problem with Grammarly lately. I find myself dismissing more and more of the suggestions that program makes.
It, and other grammar checkers I've tried, just cannot cut it. I've tried many and filed bugs and error reports, which mostly go ignored, while the suggestions become worse.
The most recent attempt with Grammarly had it making errors about changing 'was' for 'were' in sentences which were not past contrary to fact, and wanting to remove 'own' from common idioms such as 'start your own firm' or 'on my own time'.
The last response from Grammarly was 'turn off the features or put up with it, we are not fixing that'.
The last response from Grammarly was 'turn off the features or put up with it, we are not fixing that'.
I used that for a few months about a year ago, and it did not last long. I was really not satisfied with what it told me to change, so I stopped using it.
I used that for a few months about a year ago, and it did not last long. I was really not satisfied with what it told me to change, so I stopped using it.
I gave it a chance on the High Fantasy story I'm writing, and the corrections it offered were actually gobsmacking. I used Middle English (or older) city names, and it offered to correct them to the modern names, even when they were significantly different.
When it came across "Béal Feirste, in Scotia" it offered to change it to "Belfast, Northern Ireland". Even better, when I referred to "Tyska", it offered to change it to "Tyskland", the Swedish name for Germany, which is what "Tyska" represents in the story.
It did the same with "Hudadu", figuring out it was Baghdad.
Gobsmacking, actually.
Those false-positives and just as bad as the false-negatives. Generally you can disable many of those specific suggestions, yet they're especially annoying since they're not based on context (i.e. it's wrong in ANYcontext, rather than the wrong option).
Some editors can be ridiculously pedantic
I don't think pedantic is a synonym of wrong.
AJ
"redhead" is fine. Some editors can be ridiculously pedantic, which is one reason I stopped using them.
I stopped using editors a long time ago because of things like that. One even after I specifically said to largely ignore some things like spelling and grammar in quotations would still insist that I correct them.
Which would have completely lost the point I was showing the individual was an immigrant and not a native English speaker. Or came from a part of the country where the common local dialect was not what some would call "proper English".
In quotations, there are options for changing text (by enclosing them in square quotations), as I'll often do that when the reference is to a male rather than a female character, so it fits the story. However, there's no excuse to altering the entire quotation just to fit formal non-fiction standards. As any editor who can't distinguish fiction from non-fiction is worse than useless.
I described a girl as a "redhead." An editor suggested I change it to "redhaired." The editor said: "her head isn't red, but her hair is."
It could be regional differences, but my first take on that sentence and the subsequent evaluation, is that 'redhead' is a person who is 'ginger' naturally, but 'redhaired' is someone who has died their hair to the colour red. A very important distinction as the two mean totally different things.
Edit *Dyed their hair* 🙄
You can tell a true redhead by their ginger minge...
Or for blonds. Do the carpets match the drapes?
No. Real head blonde can be completely black under. Although that could depend where you draw the line in dark blonds.
I myself (a man) was golden blond until puberty, when my hair gradually turned anodized bronze black, but technically I'm blond, by hair type, and get blond steaks as my hair bleach in sunlight... well, now I get dark silver strands too, unlike my dad and grandpa who never turned gray simply as their "grayed" hair didn't really differ, while my mom wears her now bright gold-white grayed hair as a feature, and it too differ little from her early youth pictures where's she's still blond before she started dying her hair and it turned dark.
Is my sister blonde? Definitely, although her hair is only marginally lighter than my. But pubes we both have near-black, even though the same silky hair, just somewhat sparse. No, I haven't touched hers specifically, but that's the default hair around here, well above half of local population have same.
When I was a kid, I had platinum blond hair. During my HS years it turned brown. Now at 75, it is still brown and I have people asking what I use to color my hair because at 78 my moustache is white. I even had a hair dresser ask me and could not believe it was natural.
Redhead is similar to blond in that way, as it really says nothing whatsoever about the hair. So in situations like that, I'd prefer reading a detailed description of what 'type' of blond or red hair it is: sun-bleached, bleach-blond, blond with brunette highlights or brunette with the occasional stray blond strands. That sort of descriptions provides a much better idea of the type of blond/red/brunette or black hair, so that anytime you refer to that character's red/blond/ginger-green hair readers will have a reasonable idea of what it actually looks like.
Of course, there are always those gals who dye their hair every month, or my mother who went gray early (when we four kids were just entering school) yet now it's a amazing shade of all white, very near blond-ish bright.
As always, there are way more variants than there are hair or skin colors. Plus, whenever I think 'Ginger', my first thought is, what's the distribution of her freckles, as that too is much more descriptive and characteristic than what color their dye job or color-touchup is.
My opinion is that redhead is a noun, while red haired is an adjective (and should be two words, possibly hyphenated).
That is:
The redhead glanced at me.
or
The red-haired girl glanced at me.
but not
The redhaired glanced at me.
You should get a better editor.
"Redhaired" isn't even a word. It should at least have a hyphen.
"Redhaired" isn't even a word. It should at least have a hyphen.
While I agree it should have a hyphen, it is indeed a word. In fact, it even communicates the information accurately, albeit in a non-standard way.
Yep, "red-headed Alice" is hyphenated while "Alice is a redhead" or "is red haired" isn't. As always, the adjective/adverb is only hyphenated when it's a compound adjective/adverb.
That's pretty basic English grammar.
I am so not used to hyphenated words. Grew up in the 70's and that's what I learned and damned if I want to change now! My novel's set in 1979 so I further feel I should write in the language of the time (convenient excuse!) but MS Word keeps suggesting hyphens.
We definitely had hyphens in the '70s. If anything, there's been a trend away from using them.
But "red haired" is valid. "Red-haired" is better. "Redhaired" isn't a word.
But in any case, there's nothing wrong with "redhead".
But "red haired" is valid.
It might not mean what was intended, depending on context. 'Haired' means having hair. So red haired could be interpreted as two separate adjectives.
AJ
I think I'd actually write that as "the haired red woman", though I admit I'm not 100% on where "haired" belongs in the Royal Order of Adjectives.
In any case, that's why the hyphenated version is better.
though I admit I'm not 100% on where "haired" belongs in the Royal Order of Adjectives.
If you regard 'haired' as a shape or physical quality, then it precedes 'red'. If you regard 'haired' as material, it should come after 'red'. I think the former makes more sense (unless the woman is made from hair).
AJ
Sorry, but any reader is likely to stop dead when you mention "haired-red woman". Me, I'm toss the entire volume at that point. There's the royal order of adjectives, and then there are common usage patterns, which have developed over time and are accepted precisely because they fill a specific need. Again, English derives from any number of different sources, so no one rule applies equally to all words/terms/expressions.
you mention "haired-red woman"
No, I mentioned a haired red woman.
You used a compound adjective, I used two adjectives. The meanings are significantly different.
There's the royal order of adjectives, and then there are common usage patterns, which have developed over time and are accepted precisely because they fill a specific need.
The (royal) order of adjectives is the codification of common usage patterns.
AJ
The (royal) order of adjectives is the codification of common usage patterns.
One which every English speaker learns without even knowing such a system exists! I knew how to do it, and didn't even know it was a thing until a few years ago, despite extensive study in courses requiring significant writing.
Either way, your usages would still creep me out. Sometimes things fit into existing patterns and other times, they just don't! Now, a hairy red woman would be much more fitting, as I always prefer some hair on my ladies (it's healthier and less prone to skin cancer and STDs). Plus, even women with body hair get sunburned on occasion. ;)
Now mine IS the correct adjective order, while yours is the exception to the rule (as there are always exceptions to any rules, as no one ring binds them all! ;)
Now, a hairy red woman would be much more fitting
'Hairy', like 'haired' is a physical quality, so while you disagreed with my order, your example shows you actually agree with it.
AJ
One more, "red haired" is normally used in term of a specific noun or verb (multi-word adjectives/adverbs). "She's redhaired" vs. "red-head model". It has nothing to do with the actual noun or verb. Again, it's basic grammar, though one which not many recall from their grade school lessons. So when it doubt, just Google "redhair vs red-hair", as it is a common and commonly missed mistake.
If anything, there's been a trend away from using them.
Along with every diacritical mark. The entire exercise is making English, which was already difficult to spell and harder to pronounce (from the written spelling), even more of a travesty.
Language evolves. Red haired is used to indicate hair colored red.
Based on history, it was written as red haired, evolved to red-haired, and eventually become redhaired.
I see nothing wrong with either way. Sounds as if the editor is hung-up on a minor point.
My first editor was hung-up on sex. He wanted me to increase the content to be more like a stroke story. He quit when I didn't do it. Got a new editor.
It should be what the author wants to write. Editing is more a function of correcting grammar; plus ensuring it makes sense
It might not mean what was intended, depending on context. 'Haired' means having hair. So red haired could be interpreted as two separate adjectives.
"The red, haired person" means they are red and have hair of some unspecified color. But awkward, unless you're pointing out the only non-bald Native American in the group.
"The red haired person" is ambiguous, use a hyphen.