LL-L "Grammar" 2007.09.12 (05) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  12 September 2007 - Volume 05
Song Contest: lowlands-l.net/contest/ (- 31 Dec. 2007)
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From: Gary Davenport <gldavenport at student.ysu.edu>
Subject: LL-L "Grammar" 2007.09.12 (03) [E]

Hello Lowlanders. The Oxford American Dictionary gives the following
etymology for battery:

"ORIGIN Middle English : from French batterie, from battre 'to strike,' from
Latin battuere. The original sense was [metal articles wrought by
hammering,] later [a number of pieces of artillery used together] ; on this
was based a sense [a number of Leyden jars connected up so as to discharge
simultaneously] (mid 18th cent.), from which sense 1 developed. The general
meaning [a set or series of similar units] ( sense 3 ) dates from the late
19th cent."

Gary Davenport

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Grammar

And to you, too, welcome in the Speakers' Corner, Gary.  Great you joined
us.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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From: "Ben J. Bloomgren" <ben.j.bloomgren at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Grammar" 2007.09.12 (04) [E]

 Does anyone know when the word battery in the sense of electrical storage
devices became singular?

Danette and John,

I use battery when I have one battery and batteries when I have many. For
example, if your car battery is dead, you're screwed till ya charge it. On
the other hand, you can just buy more batteries for your shortwave radio
when they die on you. It's quantity that changes out the number.
Ben

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From: Andrys Onsman <Andrys.Onsman at calt.monash.edu.au>
Subject: LL-L "Grammar" 2007.09.12 (04) [E]

From: Andrys Onsman
Subject: LL-L "Grammar"

Hi John

> Another plural form for a single object I can think of is
> /tweezers/. In my youth I only heard it spoken of as "a pair of
> tweezers." Recently I have heard "a tweezer." This sounds a little odd
> to my ear but seems perfectly logical.

I can't see the logic myself - plucking hair with a tweezer would be
like eating rice with a chopstick!

and Ron
>
> Thanks a lot for the "tweezer," John.  That's another one I've heard.
> Here's another couple: "tong" instead of "tongs," and "pincer" instead
> of "pincers."
>
Isn't pincer the movement - to compress something between two things? In
which case you'd need a pair of pincers, as per the above analogy.

Cheers
Andrys

•

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