Leeloo Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 And another thing .........why do we now have pro testers ?What happened to protesters ? They are professional test takers? They are advocates of people who take tests? I've never seen that one! It is strange! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Not really a question of spelling, but something was bugging us at school today...! Which of these is correct... "It was sarcasm" or "It was sarcastic" We were talking about a text that someone sent the other day. Both could be correct. "It was sarcasm" is saying that the text was an example of sarcasm. Since it contained those elements of sarcasm, you could go on to describe it by saying "the text was sarcastic". Sarcasm is a noun, sarcastic is an adjective. Ah thank you Major You have a wealth of knowledge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Cinnamon has already touched on the "math" thing .Whilst we do use this in house sometimes as a joke (a la Fast Show) I heard a native speaker use it on Radio 4 the other day Perhaps I am incorrect, but I have always assumed "Maths" is a contraction of Mathematics..a subject.(maybe it should be written Math's?) but what does "math" derive from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Whilst 'math' sounds odd to UK ears, I imagine it is just a different contraction of the word. One that isn't applying the rules of pluralisation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 An Australian friend of mine was very perplexed that we said Hoover rather than vacuming,as Hoover is a brand name. Likewise,she asked why we called the vaporub Vick,when in fact it says Vicks on the jar. I think that the variances between countries languages is really interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 I do call it Vicks . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Me too. I often wonder if it ought to be Vick's though.... any ideas? Our street has a plural name and the old street sign at one end has it has '*****'s Road' whereas the new sign at t'other end shows '*****s Road' that irks me on a daily basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Something that always puzzles me is whether to use a collective noun as a plural or a singular. I think the BBC makes it a singular so that must be right, but is sometime sounds odd e.g. the flock runs to get mealworms / several chooks run in a group to get meal worms . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorbloodnock Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Something that always puzzles me is whether to use a collective noun as a plural or a singular. I think the BBC makes it a singular so that must be right, but is sometime sounds odd e.g. the flock runs to get mealworms / several chooks run in a group to get meal worms . . . The thing to remember is that a collective noun simply lumps several things into a single group. At that point, the collective noun is used in the singular because there's only one group, and it doesn't matter how many items there are within it. 200 people could easily be called a crowd, but if they're all standing in the same place it's just one crowd (singular). Add another 200 people and you've still only got one crowd; it's just a bigger crowd. Tell half to stand at one end of a stadium and half at the other and you have two separate groups, therefore two crowds. Therefore, if a collective noun refers to a single group, talk of it as one thing. If you have several groups, use the collective noun in the plural. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Thanks for explaining that - i now understand it more fully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 Thanks for explaining that - i now understand it more fully. Hmmm, having read all this, I think I really don't know alot at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 'Everyday' when they mean 'every day'....Te$co are the culprits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 That Sky tagline drives me mad . "We believe in better" - better WHAT ?????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 The thing to remember is that a collective noun simply lumps several things into a single group. At that point, the collective noun is used in the singular because there's only one group, and it doesn't matter how many items there are within it. 200 people could easily be called a crowd, but if they're all standing in the same place it's just one crowd (singular). Add another 200 people and you've still only got one crowd; it's just a bigger crowd. Tell half to stand at one end of a stadium and half at the other and you have two separate groups, therefore two crowds. Therefore, if a collective noun refers to a single group, talk of it as one thing. If you have several groups, use the collective noun in the plural. Many thanks for that explanation. I'll remember that. I also realise why my pack of 4 dogs always seems like a plural not a singular - they are always spread all over the stadium (i.e.park). My singular flock of chickens are also always spread pooping all over the garden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
