# A ton of bricks **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 7, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263 "2017-10-07T23:15:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/1 "2017-10-07T23:15:17Z")
Mrs. L.A. informed me that I _will_, today, rain or shine, move the stacked remnants of the Mystery Chimney we had demolished a couple of years ago, so that she can have some work done on the yard. So I moved them and stacked them, plus some pavers and a couple of cinder blocks. According to my calculations, I moved and stacked 3,070 pounds of bricks. So a ton and a half of bricks. ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/2 "2017-10-07T23:22:55Z")
So, fourteen and a half tons to go till you’re another day older and deeper in debt.:eek:😃 ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/3 "2017-10-08T01:03:59Z")
So, what, an hour of work? ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/4 "2017-10-08T01:25:20Z")
Hey, tell us about this “Mystery Chimney”. Inquiring minds want to know. Well OK, maybe I am alone in this curiosity, but tell me please! ---
**Author:** ![Cee3PeeOh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Cee3PeeOh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cee3PeeOh)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/5 "2017-10-08T01:43:44Z")
You are not alone, I love mysteries. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/6 "2017-10-08T02:28:29Z")
That sounds like a hell of a lot of work. Did **Mrs. L.A.** at least fan you? Possibly with a brickbat? 😃 > [@48Willys](#): > > Hey, tell us about this “Mystery Chimney”. Inquiring minds want to know. > > Well OK, maybe I am alone in this curiosity, but tell me please! > [@Cee3PeeOh](#): > > You are not alone, I love mysteries. I recalled him mentioning it before, so I looked it up: [**Johnny** describes the Mystery Chimney](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9113845&postcount=5) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/7 "2017-10-08T03:48:25Z")
Which is grammatically correct? (a) A ton of bricks is in the yard. or: (b) A ton of bricks are in the yard. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/8 "2017-10-08T03:59:20Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > That sounds like a hell of a lot of work. Did **Mrs. L.A.** at least fan you? Possibly with a brickbat? 😃 > > I recalled him mentioning it before, so I looked it up: > > [**Johnny** describes the Mystery Chimney](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9113845&postcount=5) She did bring me an iced tea when I asked. Re: That old post. Since then, before the Mystery Chimney was demolished, the chimney in the front bedroom has been torn down. The fireplace is still there, still blocked off. It will go eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/9 "2017-10-08T04:15:17Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Which is grammatically correct? > (a) A ton of bricks is in the yard. > or: > (b) A ton of bricks are in the yard. It depends on whether the yard is in England or the US, I think. 😃 More seriously, I think either would be correct, though I would use them in slightly different situations. If the bricks were neatly stacked and wrapped on a pallet, say, I’d probably treat “ton of bricks” as a singular collective noun, which would take the singular verb “is”. If the bricks were scattered around, rather than collected into a single unit, I’d probably use the plural. It could even be a colloquial way of expressing, “Many bricks are in the yard”, which is obviously a plural construction. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/10 "2017-10-08T15:14:10Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > It depends on whether the yard is in England or the US, I think. 😃 > > More seriously, I think either would be correct, though I would use them in slightly different situations. If the bricks were neatly stacked and wrapped on a pallet, say, I’d probably treat “ton of bricks” as a singular collective noun, which would take the singular verb “is”. If the bricks were scattered around, rather than collected into a single unit, I’d probably use the plural. It could even be a colloquial way of expressing, “Many bricks are in the yard”, which is obviously a plural construction. Something like this. I think it even depends on who your English teacher was. They all seem to have their own opinions. It may also depend on which style manual you read. It’s occurred to me that the might be context-dependent, but I never thought it through much beyond that. Now that you mention it, the above makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/11 "2017-10-08T16:56:59Z")
> [@BobBitchin](#): > > So, fourteen and a half tons to go till you’re another day older and deeper in debt.:eek:😃 I once moved about 10,000 pounds of concrete–with a friend, (though he bailed out half-way through, so I did most of it). All I could think about was that song. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/12 "2017-10-10T08:51:19Z")
My first cannery job, I stacked cases of canned corn on pallets, and as I recall, it was 1200 pounds a pallet. I easily did 50 pallets a shift, which is about 30 tons. Could have been twice that, who counted? ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/13 "2017-10-10T14:29:23Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > My first cannery job, I stacked cases of canned corn on pallets, and as I recall, it was 1200 pounds a pallet. I easily did 50 pallets a shift, which is about 30 tons. Could have been twice that, who counted? So you were doing the work of two men? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/14 "2017-10-10T17:24:40Z")
I used to empty boxcars of lumber by hand. They weighed about 70 tons and it two days to unload. So I was moving ~35 tons of lumber a day by hand. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/15 "2017-10-10T18:45:18Z")
When moving a large number of bricks it is paramount you avoid swallowing any of the brick-dust, otherwise you’ll find yourself shitting a brick. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/16 "2017-10-12T00:29:14Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Which is grammatically correct?(a) A ton of bricks is in the yard.or:(b) A ton of bricks are in the yard. Both are acceptable. My linguistics teacher encouraged us to remove or substitute clauses in order to test comprehensibility as well as grammar: (a) A ton [of bricks] is… (b) The [ton of] bricks are… In this case, both versions work. –G! As for _Garden Path Sentences_ (q.v.) my creative writing teacher emphasized the need to rewrite and/or add clauses to such sentences in order to reduce or remove ambiguity. ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-ton-of-bricks/798263/17 "2017-10-12T01:04:34Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I once moved about 10,000 pounds of concrete–with a friend, (though he bailed out half-way through, so I did most of it). > > All I could think about was that song. :smack:some friend:D I had a job working in a fertilizer factory. I was a forklift operator but now and then I’d have to stack the bags on pallets.:mad: 40 bags to a pallet 50lb bags 10hr shifts