I think the ‘of’ in ‘a couple of boxes of nails’ is a semi-meaningless space-filler. Would you say ‘two of boxes of nails’? I know this isn’t quite the same thing, but in a sense it is similar. “A couple boxes of nails” and “a couple of boxes of nails” are correct. I can understand both, and I’ll bet most other people can. I never say “go to hospital”, but I understand what is meant. I can even guess at the idea that “to hospital” refers to being admitted as a patient rather than just visiting.
PS. If anyone thinks I am wrong about of not being necessary, I have this to say: :p. Seriously though, give it some thought before you write back bashing my interpretation.
This isn’t exactly on topic, but it’s already wandered so much I feel no guilt.
Are there tank tops in Britain, and if so, what do you call them? On this side of the pond we use this term to refer to “a sleeveless collarless shirt with usually wide shoulder straps and no front opening,” according to Merriam Webster.
I bring this up, because I was taken aback by the imagery this BBC article suggested:
But “couple of” is British and Australian, and that means it’s RIGHT, dammit! Actually, sjc, you have a very good point. Damn Americans having to go and be logical… This thread gets more complicated with every post.
…whereas an Aussie housewife (or househusband in my case) might think, “Geez, there’s nothing to eat. I’d better go to the supermarket!”
Seriously, the dropping of the “the” in the situation Doug Bowe mentions is a snobbery which grates on my ears. My local council (municipal government) describes themselves in the third person in this manner: “Council has decided …”, and “Council is going to…” in all their correspondence with me. What’s wrong with “the Council”, or even “we”? It’s as though they are awarding themselves godlike status. Just one of my pet peeves…
So, thus far it seems to my understanding that the British usage of “hospital” without the article “the” is the better one as it provides more clarity, and the American “couple” without the “of” is sensible, simpler and more efficient (and I quite like the way it sounds). Anyone care to disagree? It sounds like high time we started a global SDMB official version of English. :eek:
Mathematics indeed used to have many different facets. However work done on group theory in the 1960s and 70s essentially unified the theory - a GUT of maths, if you like.
At that time, the French changed their word from “les mathematiques” to “la mathematique” - in other words they “singularised” it.
Here is a French dictionary. Type “mathematiques” and “mathematique” and see what you get.
I note that bizarrely enough most French-English dictionaries (eg Babelfish) seem to persist with “les mathematiques”. But personally I prefer to trust an actual French dictionnaire and my French mathematician mate in this matter.
Anyway, by the French logic, both the Merkins AND the Brits have it wrong - it should be “mathematic” not “mathematics”. But our US cousins are more correct than we are - at least their abbreviation is appropriate.
I always rationalized “I could care less” to imply “If I wasn’t already at the absolute bottom of the caring scale then I could care less, but alas but I am already at my lack of caring potential.”
ZipperJJ, I can confirm that dropping ‘the’ in front of words like ‘mill’ is a regional thing. Were you watching Monty Python’s Meaning of Life? Michael Palin’s “…trouble at t’mill…” announcement to his family before Every Sperm is Sacred is a good example, but the whole scene is a parody of life in Victorian Yorkshire.
I don’t think we’d use ‘tank-top’ in the Boris Yeltsin sense very often (let’s face it, so few people stand on items of military transportation these days), but it’s meaning is obvious in context. Lots of equipment would be called a ‘desk-top’ (or desktop) model, or a laptop etc. either in Britain or America.
We do have clothing called tank tops, but they’re sleeveless sweaters over here.
I seem to be the only person left here who still fills forms in, Coldy, everyone else has started filling them out. Get’s on my nerves.
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interesting word to use for your fellow countrymen, BTW :).
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For a minute I thought you meant he lisped whenever he crossed his legs (!), but I checked his profile and can see my mistake now - sorry kabbes, mate.
This thread gets more complicated with every post.