Okay, so I'm no expert like Coyier, Cederholm or Marcotte, but I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the idea that adjoining classes is bad practice... In this post, I'll probably end up answering my own question with a question, but the rhetoric has its place. And I'd really like you guys' feedback, please.

Here's an example: (ignore the odd spacing on tags)

< div class="group" >
< article class="column one" >
< / article >
< article class="column two" >
< / article >
< article class="column three" >
< / article >< / div >

I set a global class .column, that floats the div, like so:

.column {
  float: left;
  display: inline;
}

I can use the .column class on paragraphs, divs, whatever...

As expected, I can target the .column by specifying a parent. But, by adjoining the classes .column and .one, or .column.three, I can also target and style the first or third column differently, like so:

 .parent .column {
  width: 300px;
  margin-right: 40px;
}
.parent .column.three {
  width: 260px;
  margin-right: 0;
  padding-left: 40px;
}

My thinking was that by using .column.three, I save on having numerous class names to call on, e.g. .column-01, .column-02, .column-03 versus the adjoined classes.

Doing this will also allow me to reuse the .one, .two and .three class somewhere else, e.g. .button.one or li.one.

Now, according to CSS Lint, aren't handled properly by IE6. And, to quote:

Generally, it's better to define styles based on single classes instead of based on multiple classes being present.

Is my methodology sound, or should I be creating entirely new classes?

Also, how does adjoining classes affect page speed versus all new classes?

I need some solid advice...

Thanks in advance.