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I have to describe an object that is: a pair of

  • round/rounded earrings,
  • made of wood/wooden,
  • with bosses of brass/brass bossed?

How can I put it in a single statement?

I think that it could be right to say "round wooden earrings with bosses of brass" but I'm not sure, since I'm not a native speaker of English.

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  • 2
    Related: Adjective order.
    – RegDwigнt
    Nov 22, 2010 at 19:25
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    If you use it, "brass bossed" should be hyphenated ("brass-bossed") because it functions as a single adjective.
    – Jon Purdy
    Nov 22, 2010 at 20:21

1 Answer 1

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"round wooden earrings with brass bosses" is the most natural way of saying this to the English ear, although you could say "brass bossed round wooden earrings"

My personal thought is it's probably better to put whatever you consider to be the most important features first qualifying them after with the less important ones.

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  • "Round wooden earrings with brass bosses" seems just fine: thank you!
    – dag729
    Nov 22, 2010 at 21:55
  • To elaborate: usage of genitive of material ("bosses of brass") in English is overwhelmingly not used, though it is grammatical. Unless there are are definite stylistic reasons, the genitive is replaced with an ordinary adjective, "brass bosses", as the answers describe.
    – res
    Nov 22, 2010 at 22:41
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    I agree that "round wooden earrings with brass bosses" is the most natural. But for your other, I would write "brass-bossed round wooden earrings" instead.
    – Charles
    Mar 31, 2011 at 14:10

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