The plural of "moose" is ...

[Jonathan Lighter]

Makes me want to take two aspirin. Or two Tylenol. Or two Aleve.  Or two
opium, but that would be ungrammatical.

JL

On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 9:13 AM, Neal Whitman <nwhitman at ameritech.net>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Neal Whitman <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
> Subject:      Re: The plural of "moose" is ...
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Point taken. Also, months after I wrote that post, I found this one by
> Lynne Murphy, talking about BrE "scrambled egg" and "mashed potato," as well
> as non-food mass nouns:
> http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2006/07/countmass-nouns-potato-egg-tax-sport.html
>
> Neal
>
> On Aug 31, 2010, at 8:00 AM, Chris Waigl <chris at LASCRIBE.NET> wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Chris Waigl <chris at LASCRIBE.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: The plural of "moose" is ...
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > On 31 Aug 2010, at 02:35, Neal Whitman wrote:
> >> On the blog:
> >> "But when it comes to fruits and vegetables, even after a pass through
> the universal grinder (or a real-world food processor), not all of the count
> nouns turn into mass nouns. Some, like pears, remain count nouns."
> >> http://literalminded.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/pears-and-pineapple/
> >>
> >
> > But.
> >
> > ====
> > Blood pudding - Traditional sausage made from pig's blood mixed with
> spices, onion, cereal, onion and salt. They are rich and dark in flavour and
> colour, although commercial black puddings are dyed black. They are ready
> cooked, but are intended to be eaten sliced and fried, and are often
> included as part of a mixed grill or a full English breakfast. They only
> keep a few days in the fridge, but they can be frozen. Try serving with some
> pan cooked apple or pear to accompany and soften the flavour.
> > http://www.cookeryonline.com/Resource/GlossaryB.html
> > ====
> > I started giving DD weetbix at about 7 months - it's pretty thick, and I
> don't think she would have eaten it before then. I bought the kids weetbix.
> I mix it with water, and apple and pear that I've mashed. Pears are very
> watery, and I find that goes well with weetbix. [CW: Interesting one with
> pear/pears. I hear a lot of parents of newborns discuss when they start
> feeding their babies apple or pear. Also note singular "weetabix".]
> >
> http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t799375.html
> > ====
> >
> > 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
> >
> > --
> > Chris Waigl -- http://chryss.eu -- http://eggcorns.lascribe.net
> > twitter: chrys -- friendfeed: chryss
> >
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