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A Point About Grammar
app103:
On that topic though, one uncountable noun that has crept into being a countable noun that I find somewhat irritating is "beers". It's like "waters". It contracts "X bottles of beer" or "X glasses of beer" into "beers". It just seems like a sloppy bastardization to me.
-Renegade (March 02, 2011, 06:26 PM)
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So does that mean you'd be against me buying you a beer?
-app103 (March 03, 2011, 06:12 AM)
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Oddly, that seems perfectly natural. The plural contraction doesn't. So sure, you can buy me a beer anytime~! :P
-Renegade (March 03, 2011, 06:53 AM)
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Just seems a shame that you can have a beer but not a few beers. Doesn't sound like as much fun. :P
Renegade:
In my Korean language classes some years ago, a fellow student was a professor of Linguistics. We had a very interesting conversation one time when he explained why you can have "un-fucking-believable" but not "unbelieva-fucking-ble" or "unbe-fucking-lievable" (and other similar cases of injecting profanity into words). I forget the exact reasons at the moment, but it had to do with intonation and stress. Those are some strange rules that we all know and use, but aren't really conscious of them, and never had a class where they were taught. :D
Just seems a shame that you can have a beer but not a few beers. Doesn't sound like as much fun.
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Yes. Very true. :)
I'd like to know why a non-countable noun can become a singular countable noun, but not a plural countable noun. I think it has to do with them being assumed contractions of the form "# units of noun" to "a noun" or "nouns".
e.g.
I'd like a water.
But not:
I'd like some waters.
cranioscopical:
Perhaps not entirely off topic (for a change)
To the many of you who have sent me personal messages enquiring with such concern as to why I am so dopey a (and here I'll paraphrase — there are simply too few asterisks available on my keyboard) fellow. This could be the answer:
Research by the British National Formulary (BNF), which advises doctors, nurses and pharmacists, found labelling that has been around for decades is now too difficult for members of the public to understand.
It found phrases such as "may cause drowsiness" are no longer "readily understood" and should now be simplified to say "this medicine may make you sleepy".
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and, just to add further clarity
Likewise, the phrases "avoid alcoholic drink" and "take at regular intervals" caused indecision among modern takers.
The report recommends the labels should now read "do not drink alcohol while taking this medicine" and "space the doses evenly throughout the day".
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For those of you who feel that this does not explain my mental state fully, I offer the following:
Drinking a glass of wine a day or a pint of beer can cut the chance of developing dementia by almost a third, according to researchers.
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So, in future, I'll go for a few bottles of each beverage. That should fix it!
Ath:
So, in future, I'll go for a few bottles of each beverage. That should fix it!
-cranioscopical (March 04, 2011, 01:58 PM)
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:drinksmiley: ;D ;D ;D
Stoic Joker:
So, in future, I'll go for a few bottles of each beverage. That should fix it!
-cranioscopical (March 04, 2011, 01:58 PM)
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:drinksmiley: ;D ;D ;D
-Ath (March 04, 2011, 02:04 PM)
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Damn Straight! I'll sign-up for the Save-the-Marbles Drinking Competition (Er...) "Therapy" too!
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