alt131 - 6:47 pm on Nov 4, 2011 (gmt 0)

Hi sssweb,

selectoracle [gallery.theopalgroup.com] is a useful tool for interpreting selectors, and Section 5 Selectors [w3.org] of the recommendations has more detail.

Read them right to left, in this case:
.text a:hover { [property:value] }
= Selects an <a> when it is hovered, that is contained in an element with the class "text"
eg <p class="text">lorum ipsitor <a href="#">Link</a> </p> (when the <a> is hovered)
a:hover .text { [property:value] }
= Selects an element with the class name "text" that is contained in an <a> that is hovered
eg <a href="#">My <span class="text">link</span.</a> (When hovered)

.text p { [property:value] }
= A <p> contained in an element with the class name "text"
eg <div class="text"> <p>Lorum ipsitor</p></div>
p.text { [property:value] }
= A <p> with the class name "text"
eg <p class="text"> Lorum</p>
p .text { [property:value] }
= An element with the class name "text" that is contained in a p
eg <p>LLurum ipsitor <a class="text" href="#">link</a></p>