sky vs. skies (long post)

Lamont Antieau elwould at IX.NETCOM.COM
Thu Apr 11 00:56:02 UTC 2002


It might be useful, too, to look at other words that act similarly.  For
instance, English speakers also make the distinction between water and
waters.  You might hear someone at a beach say "don't go in the water yet"
but never "don't go in the waters yet".  But then you will hear about the
shark-infested waters off the coast of Florida or Texas, or of a submarine
getting lost in enemy waters.  If nothing else, size seems to play a part in
the distinction, and perhaps proximity as well.

Lamont Antieau

----- Original Message -----
From: David Bergdahl <einstein at FROGNET.NET>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 7:04 PM
Subject: Re: sky vs. skies (long post)


> I think as far as weather goes, "skies" recognizes that everyone has his
own
> patch of sky and the sky may be cloudy for you but clear for me, whereas
> when "patrol the sky" considers the [non-count rather than singular] sky
as
> a unity and the patrol goes everywhere.  So in "Fly the friendly skies"
one
> understands that United is flying all over the globe, and hence in
different
> skies, while in "The sky over Dallas is hazy" the perspective is limited
to
> one patch.
> _________________________________
> "Raffiniert ist der Herr Gott, aber Boshaft ist er nicht"
> --Albert Einstein



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