Grits: singular or plural?

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated 7/3/02 10:18:08 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM writes:

> I think "groats" usually refers to hulled, but not ground, grains, as in
>  buckwheat groats  or oat groats.

I should have looked at the M-W definition more closely.  "1.  hulled grain
broken into fragments larger than grits 2. a grain (as of oats) exclusive of
the hull"


>  I sometimes wonder about the countability of "grounds," when I get one
>  particle of ground coffee caught in a tooth!

A sage hen like yourself could eliminate this question by going to a drip
coffeemaker.

Seriously, "grounds" is an interesting mass-vs-count example.
A grounds-keeper usually is only employed for one ground(s)?
A pistol-packing gardener carries grounds rounds?
"I own ground in the Poconos" but "my grounds in the Poconos.
And the ethnic joke about a divorce case:
     Q.  Do you have grounds?
     A.  About two acres.

         - Jim Landau