"Foot is a singular noun," Peter said as he used the 25-foot air hose at Curly's Soonerco to inflate his tires. "The plural of 'foot' is 'feet,' and the hose is 25 feet long. But in this example, 'foot' is being used as part of the modifier for 'hose.' Is that correct, colloquial or substandard?"
The ad was correct. If someone were to refer to a "25-feet hose," it would violate the rules of grammar and would also have hurt Peter's ears.
The reason is simple: In that sentence, "foot" is not a noun; as Peter correctly observed, it is part of a compound adjective. Nouns can be singular or plural, but in the English language, adjectives don't change according to number. We don't say "two yellows cars" or "a few goods men." Likewise, you wouldn't order "two feet-long hot dogs."
Foot, of course, can be a noun. When you say "The center for the Oklahoma State University Cowboys is 7 feet tall," you're using "feet" as a noun of measurement. But, you would describe the individual as "the 7-foot center." As a rule of thumb, if the measurement comes before the noun, it should be counted as an adjective and should not be used in its plural form.
So, you could say, "It's 100 miles from Oklahoma City to Tulsa," but you could also say, "It's a 100-mile drive from Tulsa to Oklahoma City."
"Buddy Barnstormer has a three-feet dog," Gopher said. "The hound lost one foot in a fight with a wild boar."
"I'd say the dog was three-footed," Buck said. The boar was 5 feet from snout to tail.
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