The subject is ambiguity...

[shy slave]

Another conundrum that makes me nuts.

One goose is a goose. Multiple gooses are geese.

One moose is a moose. Multiple mooses are not meese, they're still moose.

One mouse is a mouse. Multiple mouses are mice.

One house is a house. Multiple houses are are houses.

Lets have some structure, people!

Oh now you have made my head hurt!!!

 

[graceanne]

You need to send Sir_W to that particular site i am sure he can sort the CAPS POSTER OUT

*giggles*

 

[FungiUg]

Collective Nouns

[...]Lets have some structure, people!

Well, if you want structure, try this.

A group of cows is a herd.
A group of sheep is a flock.
A group of crows is a murder.
A group of geese is a gaggle.
A group of fish is a school.

Who the hell do I have to shoot for this one?

 

[Sir_Winston54]

Re: Collective Nouns

Well, if you want structure, try this.

A group of cows is a herd.
A group of sheep is a flock.
A group of crows is a murder.
A group of geese is a gaggle.
A group of fish is a school.

Who the hell do I have to shoot for this one?

The Brits. They invented the damned language (with help from almost everyone else in the Western world, lol).

 

[FungiUg]

Well, it helps if you take a historical look at England, I think... to give you a good idea of why the English language is the way it is.

Start off with a little country tucked away, sparsely populated. Now have every other country in Europe (including even the Romans) invade on a regular basis. The come, they rape, they pillage, they like the place, they stay.

After a thousand years or so of this, take a peek at the language they're speaking.

Yup... English!

Major contributors are Latin, Angles, Saxons, Danes (the Normans were Danes who lived in France) and then down through the rest of Scandinavia, all of the Germanic countries at some point, and I suspect a few unidentified aliens as well. I think they missed the Greeks and the Mongols.

And we wonder why English is such a fucked up language!

 

[Miss Diva]

Ok how is this for messed up: I speak, write and read three languages (English, French, and Italian) And the same word (a good example is "syndicate") spelled almost the same way and pronounced almost the same in the three languages BUT mean totally different things in the French, English and Italian.

So sometimes when i am reading something in Italian but my mind is thinking in English, well talk about misunderstanding the text. Happens alot.

Oh and for some reason, if I memorize something in English, I have to memorize it in French all over again. Apparently the brain does not file it at one spot....sigh....

 

[Esclava]

Re: Re: The subject is ambiguity...

OMG she quoted me!!!!

I have read and re-read the thread and want to say straight off thank you esclava and Sir_W for taking time to go over my response from the other thread.

<snip>
I have not heard of the Merriam-Webster _ what is it? [color=royal blue]The Merriam-Webster is a widely used dictionary resource.[/color]

I printed off my original post and took it to a friend who has a first in English from Cambs. In truth I now wish I hadn't asked.

I thought I knew english *sigh*[color=royal blue]I'm sorry...[/color]

<snip>
I suppose esclava and Sir_W will set homework now lol [color=royal blue]...looking for homework to pass by Sir_W for his approval...[/color]


I did re-read this, to check for spelling, prior to posting and noticed that I had written esclavas blue nits instead of bits ~ what can I say other than to quote Weird Harold its my fingers that are stupid! [color=royal blue] I have stupid fingers, too![/color]

ps I am actually scottish does that get me off the hook??? [color=royal blue]Nope...[/color]
No I thought not *sigh again* lol

Esclava