use of Hyphen

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1
  1. The giraffe is a long(adj)-necked animal.
  2. The giraffe has a long(adj) neck.
  3. That is a freshly(adv) painted bench.
  4. We have a fully(adv) stocked wine cellar.
  5. Our wine cellar is fully(adv) stocked.
  6. He saw a thick-skinned hippopotamus.
  7. The hippopotamus is thick(adj)-skinned.
    Please correct and comment.
    Thanks.
2
  1. The giraffe is a long-necked animal.
  2. The giraffe has a long neck.
  3. That is a freshly-painted bench.
  4. We have a fully stocked wine cellar.
  5. Our wine cellar is fully stocked.
  6. He saw a thick-skinned hippopotamus.
  7. The hippopotamus is thick skinned.
    (As you may observe from the actual practice in vogue these days, the tendency is to avoid even these hyphens)
3

That of course is completely wrong!

  1. He saw a thick-skinned hippopotamus. It is not thick, nor is it skinned! So the hyphen is [color=blue]absolutely necessary!
4

I’m in favour of the hyphen for making the meaning clear but I do not usually disturb the original sentence much in view of the hyphen-less usage which is increasingly common now. However, we cannot take ‘He saw a thick skinned hippopotamus’ for ‘He saw a thick, skinned hippopotamus’ in which case the comma does alter the meaning; the use of ‘thick’ is not appropriate there though.

5

In your world of rigid punctuation, I presume you mean:
“That, of course, is completely wrong!”
Either way your statement is not correct.

As has been pointed out, a comma instead of a hyphen would make the sentence wrong. However, as there has been no suggestion that a comma should replace it, there is no problem with the comprehension (unlike your statement without commas above).

6

The following question applies whether you use the hyphen or leave it out.

Why have you described the hippopotamus as ‘thick skinned’ at all?
What other type of hippopotamus would you expect to see?
Unless there is a very specific reason for including it, “He saw a hippopotamus” would be enough. The addition of ‘thick-skinned’ does not bring any additional information to the sentence as the animal you have chosen always bears that characteristic.

When we use ‘thick skinned’ to describe a person, we mean that the person is insensitive to insults and criticism. (Sometimes it is used negatively, to indicate that they should be more aware, as the criticism is fair; less often it is not used negatively and indicates that the action of ignoring the criticism is appropriate.)

7

In your world of rigid punctuation, I presume you mean:
“That, of course, is completely wrong!”
Either way your statement is not correct.
My ‘rigidity’ is much better than your idiocy!

8

I’m still happy to explain how to use quotes on the site if you want help, you know.

I see you have had to respond in your usual manner, presumably because you know I am correct.