Food and Drink Measures.

[jpanhalt]

@MrAI
Why we buy eggs by the dozen, but chicken by the pound?

John

 

[Ratchit]

jpanhalt,

Why we buy eggs by the dozen, but chicken by the pound?

The Colonel sells chicken by the piece at KFC.

Ratch

 

[hexreader]

jpanhalt,



The Colonel sells chicken by the piece at KFC.

Ratch

That brings up an interesting point.....

Why is Colonel pronounced as if it were spelt Kernel?

Interesting thread.... well only now that we have moved on to talking about chicken

 

[jpanhalt]

Apparently, we adopted the Italian spelling and retained the English pronunciation:

https://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=colonel

John

 

[hexreader]

@ jpanhalt

Wasn't really expecting a reply, was more expecting threat of a ban for going way off-topic.

Interesting link though, and settles a random, pointless question that has bothered me for years. Thanks.

Why am I now desperate for a KFC Bargain Bucket?

 

[ericgibbs]

@ jpanhalt

Wasn't really expecting a reply, was more expecting threat of a ban for going way off-topic.

hi
Feel free to Chat.

Tesco's sell chicken by the breast and thigh.

 

[carbonzit]

Tesco's sell chicken by the breast and thigh.

Your reply brings up another language mystery that I feel free to bring up in this forum:

Why do the Brits treat entities like companies and other organizations as plural, where we North Americans treat them as singular?

Case in point is Eric's reply: "Tesco's sell". Now, to my N. American ear, this sounds gratingly wrong, wrong, wrong. But to him, this is correct.

To me, this is like saying "She sell jewelry on the street". A singular subject takes a singular verb. To me, he should have written "Tesco's sells chicken ...", as any literate N. American would.

Mind you, I'm not asking you (Eric) to change your language. I'm just asking why it is that y'all treat singulars/plurals the exact opposite of the way we do?

Similarly:

Brit: "different to"; us: "different from".
Brit: "_____ lives in XXXX street"; us: "_____ lives on XXXX street".

And, of course, there's that famous "You [Brits] drive on the parkway, where we park on the driveway".

In general, if you haven't noticed, I happen to find British-isms (which many of my fellow countrymen seem to adopt as somehow highfalutin' and with a cachet of High Culture) to be quaint and even irritating. However, having said this, I will say that in at least on case, the British have a much better term for something: "lift" versus our clunky "elevator". So simple, descriptive and to the point. Whenever I say, hear or write "elevator", I wonder why we didn't take the whole Greco-Roman antiquated term to its logical conclusion and call it an "elevatorium", like "auditorium".

 

[JimB]

"Tesco's sell".

Is a colloquial form of English.

"Tesco's sells chicken ...",

Sounds odd to me.

"Tesco sells chicken"
I probably the most gramatically correct form.

Just my £0.02.

JimB

 

[carbonzit]

"Tesco's sell".

Is a colloquial form of English.

"Tesco's sells chicken ...",

Sounds odd to me.

"Tesco sells chicken"
I probably the most gramatically correct form.

Just my £0.02.

JimB

Well, it is grammatically correct--at least on this side of the Atlantic. But I think you might have missed the point. (Or perhaps I didn't make it clearly enough).

Everything I've read written by UKOGBANI folks indicates that "Tesco's sell" is the accepted form over there, so presumably considered grammatically correct. Are you saying that this is really just a colloquialism often used by UK writers, even though it's grammatically incorrect (to y'all as well)? Because it's a very widespread usage (often found on this very board).

Just my £0.02.

So would you say "just my two pence"? We'd say "just my two cents".

 

[jpanhalt]

1) Walmart's sell tires.

2) Walmart sells tires.

#1 is correct grammatically, as both subject and verb are plural. Apostrophe "s" is an accepted way to make a plural. But it may be argued as not good legally. Trademarks are generally considered singular. A "6-pack of Coke" is preferred over a "6-pack of Cokes." A company that allows its trademark to be used as a common noun (e.g., as plural form) takes a step in loosing its trademark. Using it as a verb is even worse. Look up the trademark history of aspirin (Bayer trademark, originally) and cellophane (DuPont).

So, if the speaker is referring to what individual Walmart bricks-and-mortar stores sell, it might be correct to use the plural. Now, if the stock of various Walmart stores varies by location, then one might say, "Some Walmart's sell tires," which would be harder to argue against; although, "Some Walmart stores sell tires," would probably be preferred by the legal department.

#2 is also correct and refers to the single corporate entity of Walmart.

John

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

Crabs by the bushel and clams by the dozen or 100.

Peter Piper picked a peck of peppers.

Corn by the barrel and by the dozen.

A baker's dozen of 13 rather than 12.

 

[Pommie]

I was taught that it wasn't acceptable to use 's to make a plural and so Walmart's sell tires shouldn't have an apostrophe. Isn't this commonly referred to as the Grocers' apostrophe?

However, Walmart's stores sell tires would require an apostrophe due to it being the possessive form.

I'm confused but that's not hard to do.

Edit, where will the next tangent take this thread?

Mike.

 

[JimB]

"Tesco's sell". Is a colloquial form of English.

As others have pointed out (give or take the apastrophe) this could relate to the whole chain of Tesco stores, or, it could be a colloquial way (in my dubious opinion) of referring to any one Tesco store.

Many years ago I worked for a large shipbuilding company called Vickers.
Among the locals of the town where the shipyard was located (Barrow in Furness), the company was sometimes referred to as Vickers's, which really does sound odd.

Just my £0.02.

Often spoken as "just my two penneth", a contraction of "two pennies worth".
Today a penny is one hundredth of a pound.
Before 1971, when decimal coins were introduced, there were 12 pennies in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound.

Talk about absurd units and divisions, we had all sorts!

JimB

 

[jpanhalt]

Edit, where will the next tangent take this thread?

Mike.

Actually, this all started with MrAI's comment in another thread dealing with statistical parameters and buying grapes by the pound and oranges by the piece. He implied the reason was that one would not want to count the individual grapes. I suggested, in jest, that one bought chickens by the pound, but eggs -- a larger number -- by the piece. I was saying that ''grapes" by their nature grow as clusters and are different than oranges that grow individually. In other words, I was not satisfied that the task of numeration was a completely satisfactory explanation for the difference in the way they are sold.

I agree, the discussion was pretty tangential at that point, and Eric decided to split the thread from its "pure" mathematical basis, if that ever existed, into what we have here. I think the simple answer to PG's question is that one should use the right tool for the right task. That is, different horses for different races.

Now, if we start talking about the statistics of horse races, maybe it will get back on topic.

John

 

[ericgibbs]

I agree, the discussion was pretty tangential at that point, and Eric decided to split the thread from its "pure" mathematical basis, if that ever existed, into what we have here. I think the simple answer to PG's question is that one should use the right tool for the right task. That is, different horses for different races.

Now, if we start talking about the statistics of horse races, maybe it will get back on topic.

John

hi John,
I thought members would like the opportunity to chat in a more general way about this topic.

The other alternatives would have been to Close the Thread or Delete the Off Topic posts, which IMHO would have been the 'stuffy' approach.

Eric.

For those members who have a problem with colloquial English, 'stuffy', I would say Go Google yourself.

When answering questions to OP's who's first language is not English, it is not always possible to use the appropriate grammar, syntax, punctuation etc.

The main point IMO, is to get the answer in a form that the guy can understand.