Timeline for Why does American English pluralize certain singular nouns?
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
32 events
when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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Jan 1, 2012 at 18:25 | answer | added | Iain | timeline score: 0 | |
Sep 11, 2011 at 10:49 | history | bounty ended | CommunityBot | ||
Sep 9, 2011 at 16:28 | comment | added | woodykiddy | ANYWAYS - This is another example of using plural in American English, probably, grammatically, in an incorrect way. You get to hear it being used a lot on YouTube videos. | |
Sep 5, 2011 at 15:51 | comment | added | Raku | @JSBᾶngs: Does "at school" sound strange to you too? It would be the same concept to me as "at university". | |
Sep 4, 2011 at 21:59 | comment | added | Matthew Frederick | @awoodland Pants refers to a "pair of pants", though, so the s is more clearly appropriate; pants aren't generally available singularly except perhaps at a garment factory. Same with scissors. | |
Sep 4, 2011 at 15:44 | comment | added | Flexo - Save the data dump | I don't think it's just an American thing. "Pants" has a British meaning but is a pluralised singular noun. | |
Sep 3, 2011 at 16:15 | answer | added | Fraser Orr | timeline score: 2 | |
Sep 3, 2011 at 12:45 | answer | added | Robusto | timeline score: 6 | |
Sep 3, 2011 at 12:44 | answer | added | Peter Shor | timeline score: 2 | |
Sep 3, 2011 at 12:27 | comment | added | Peter Shor | Even worse, "We ... are bivouaced for the night in a small woods." (Taken with context from Google books so that Brits will believe me when I say that some Americans actually use this phrase.) | |
Sep 3, 2011 at 12:16 | answer | added | tdhsmith | timeline score: 13 | |
Sep 3, 2011 at 10:41 | answer | added | Kyle Pearson | timeline score: -1 | |
Sep 3, 2011 at 9:42 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackEnglish/status/109924286218772480 | ||
Sep 3, 2011 at 9:06 | history | bounty started | CommunityBot | ||
Feb 8, 2011 at 21:23 | comment | added | John Berryman | I wonder why my family members sometimes pluralize store names: "Hey ya'll, we goin' to Walmarts. Yonna go?" | |
Feb 8, 2011 at 7:33 | comment | added | Gareth Simpson | I'd say winnings but never "a winnings". | |
Feb 7, 2011 at 6:11 | comment | added | Dusty | Out of curiosity, do you also refer to someone's proceeds from a contest as a winning (where I would use winnings)? E.g. After his opponent folded John collected his winnings and left the casino. | |
Feb 7, 2011 at 5:15 | answer | added | JRideout | timeline score: 14 | |
Feb 6, 2011 at 18:01 | comment | added | ukayer | +1 just for asking the question. It is a saving of $10. Savings is the plural of amounts that you save, i.e. a savings account. | |
Feb 6, 2011 at 17:12 | comment | added | Gareth Simpson | I think my use of "such and such" ( answers.com/topic/such-and-such ) is confusing my question, I've changed it. | |
Feb 6, 2011 at 17:11 | history | edited | Gareth Simpson | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
I think I confused people with "such and such" as an expression and had it badly corrected.
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Feb 6, 2011 at 4:32 | history | edited | avpaderno | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
added 1 characters in body
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Feb 6, 2011 at 4:32 | comment | added | avpaderno | @nohat: It's probably what he meant; in that case, a comma should be used. I would not use "and such a thing" in a sentence like that, but that could be because a different style. | |
Feb 6, 2011 at 2:56 | comment | added | nohat | @Dour High Arch really? “the <NOUN>” implies that there is only one <NOUN> in existence? | |
Feb 6, 2011 at 2:39 | comment | added | Dour High Arch | "At the university"? "In the hospital"? That would make sense only if there were exactly one of each in existence. | |
Feb 5, 2011 at 23:33 | comment | added | nohat | @kiamlaluno I think he meant “‘A savings of $10’ or such" and “such a thing is ‘a ways off’” | |
Feb 5, 2011 at 23:25 | comment | added | nohat | It’s not really plural if you use the word a in front of it, is it? It’s just a noun ending in s | |
Feb 5, 2011 at 19:29 | answer | added | Chris B. Behrens | timeline score: -3 | |
Feb 4, 2011 at 23:07 | comment | added | avpaderno | Or such and such a thing? Is it a mix between such and such and such a thing? :-) | |
Feb 4, 2011 at 22:50 | comment | added | Kosmonaut | Do Brits not use the word means as in "a means to an end"? | |
Feb 4, 2011 at 21:47 | comment | added | JSBձոգչ | And it sounds deeply weird to my American ear when you say "at university" or "in hospital" without "the". | |
Feb 4, 2011 at 21:35 | history | asked | Gareth Simpson | CC BY-SA 2.5 |