Re: noun compounds

R A Brown wrote:

> The English "apple pie" could be further expanded, e.g. "apple, pear and
> quince pie". That means _one_ pie, filled with a mix of apples, pears
> and quinces. I guess the German would be something like
> "Apfel-Birnen-Quitten-Pastete" (Does one need the hyphens?)
No, Apfelbirnenquittenpastete would also be right, but the hyphens do
improve readability.

But be careful, otherwise you may end up with words like
Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz
(Law on delegation of supervision duties for labeling of beef)
which is an actual law in one German state ;-)

Senno