"Number of fake Â£1 coins doubles"

grecian · Post by **grecian** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 1:11 pm

[quote="Matt Vinyl"]Interesting thread. And it is quite correct that you can tell a dud easier by the sound it makes on contact with other material.

Also, a friend of mine often says that he'll be able to "come out when he's been paid his monies". It grates when I hear it, but is it correct? ]

"Monies" or "moneys" is quite a legalistic term I think. It is definitely a word but I wouldn't expect to hear it in ordinary discourse.

Matt Vinyl · Post by **Matt Vinyl** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 1:46 pm

Not to stray too far OT, but I have indeed 'read' it in legal documentation, or on bank pamphlets, like you say. Also as you say, it's not something you expect to hear in regular 'in the pub' conversation...

K_Oranj · Post by **K_Oranj** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 2:01 pm

Very edifying post Istenem. I've been neglecting this area of observation, so much appreciated.

You mentioned bottom-smacking for naughty ones. I'm thinking that such punishment might be a good replacement for ASBOs - bare and in the public square.

Nil Satis · Post by **Nil Satis** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 2:52 pm

Istenem wrote:it depends. 'coins' is an accepted plural if they are countable (e.g. the coins in your pocket). but in terms of a mass noun, 'coin' is correct

I knew that, and I knew that you knew that, but I just thought I'd double-check.

On a somewhat related note, here is one of my all-time favourite quiz questions - not from a machine as it's too subtle for that:

What noun is used in the singular when there is one of them or many of them but in the plural when there are only a few?

There may be more than one of these (and if so I'd be delighted to hear them) but there is one obvious answer. Over to you guys...

Matt Vinyl · Post by **Matt Vinyl** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:18 pm

I'd plumb for man and men?

Interesting topic - perhaps we should make a new thread?

milk monitor · Post by **milk monitor** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:45 pm

Hair/ Hairs?

Nil Satis · Post by **Nil Satis** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:51 pm

milk monitor wrote:Hair/ Hairs?

Correct! You would pick a hair out of your drink and you brush your hair (circa 50,000 strands on average I think) but you remove a few hairs from the plughole.

Matt Vinyl wrote:I'd plumb for man and men? ]

A good answer but not the one I meant obviously - you'd still say men for lots of them, as in the grand old Duke of York's ten thousand men, but we do talk about (for example) "the family of man" to mean everyone.

As for creating another thread, by all means do so. Obviously this particular question has now ended but others may have similar conundrums (or is it 'conundra'? ).