The plural of "moose" is ...

ronbutters at AOL.COM ronbutters at AOL.COM
Tue Aug 31 14:25:51 UTC 2010


Not to mention that it is hard to imagine a contxt in which one would say, "I spent years teaching kid but now I teach adult."
------Original Message------
From: Laurence Horn
Sender: ADS-L
To: ADS-L
ReplyTo: ADS-L
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] The plural of "moose" is ...
Sent: Aug 31, 2010 10:13 AM

At 1:00 PM +0100 8/31/10, Chris Waigl wrote:
>...
>I think it is usually a safe bet to think that any English noun can
>be used as a count AND mass noun, even if it's sometimes a stretch.
>Also, teaching kids (first, second or foreign language speakers)
>that being a mass or count noun is somehow inherent in the noun
>doesn't help them at all in the long run.
>
>Chris
>
Maybe not, but it might still help them to know that "a spaghetti"
(or "a spaghetto") raises more eyebrows than "a noodle".

LH

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list