Things you just don't get

[lasbar]



or give a ****

And no spitting.

 

[L'Incandescent]



Would you have given her a passing grade if she gave you a beege?

The only way that happens is if I am the victim of sexual assault. And to quote the old Flemish proverb, "A passing grade for sexual assault is a thing that is wrong." (It probably rhymes in the original Flemish.)

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Oh that's right. It was an ethics course...

 

[patrickBOOTH]

A lot of executives being moved around at my company..

 

[Piobaire]

Today I am not getting why commercials for female hygiene products and toilet paper that will not leave dingleberries are acceptable but commercials for hard liquor are not. Personally, I would much rather listen to someone extol the virtues of their favorite whisky vs. their favorite tampon or vag wipe.

 

[blahman]



Not just shape, there are different counters for different types of things as well and the counter may change depending on the actual number. Also the word for the number may change depending on the industry it is being used in.
For example,
1 animal ip-piki
2 animals ni-hiki
3 animals san-biki
4 animals yon-hiki
5 animals go-hiki
6 animals rop-piki
7 animals shichi-hiki (nana-hiki)
8 animals hap-piki
9 animals kyuu-hiki
10 animals jup-piki
Base form of some other counters
hon Long, cylindrical things
mai　 Flat things like paper
ko　general small objects
hai Liquid in containers
satsu　 Books
kai　The floor of a building
There are more.

How is that different from
1 sheet of paper
2 bails of hay
3 grains of sand
4 cup of coffee
5 volumes of encyclopaedia
6 lengths of timber

etc

 

[indesertum]

^hmmm

Today I am not getting why commercials for female hygiene products and toilet paper that will not leave dingleberries are acceptable but commercials for hard liquor are not. Personally, I would much rather listen to someone extol the virtues of their favorite whisky vs. their favorite tampon or vag wipe.

wait hard liquor ads are illegal?

what about all the tequila and vodka ads i see

 

[Liam O]

How is that different from
1 sheet of paper
2 bails of hay
3 grains of sand
4 cup of coffee
5 volumes of encyclopaedia
6 lengths of timber
etc

A) because most people don't use the proper collective nouns in english

B) it is a totally different grammatical construct. in order to point at the goose and say "there is one" you have to know the proper measure word for goose. like, one person is yi ge ren (one of person) one sheet of paper is yi zhang zhi (one of paper) one cat is (iirc) yi pi mao (one of cat). if someone asked you how many of a thing there are, you wouldnt say "yi" you'd say "yi ge/zhi/pi" or whatever the appropriate measure word is. Its a bit like the whole one two three four/ solo duo trio quartet, but not quite.

 

[indesertum]

i think it's actually the same thing except counting numbers are for different objects.

there's no english equivalent of ge tho because instead of saying yi ge ren you just say one person

instead of saying yi zhang zhi you say one sheet of paper. i guess the difference is it's wrong to say yi zhi whereas one paper just sounds more awkward than one sheet of paper

 

[cptjeff]



Today I am not getting why commercials for female hygiene products and toilet paper that will not leave dingleberries are acceptable but commercials for hard liquor are not. Personally, I would much rather listen to someone extol the virtues of their favorite whisky vs. their favorite tampon or vag wipe.

Where do you live? I see plenty of commercials for liquor. Usually vodka, rum or those stupid "be manly" tequila ones, though occasionally I see some bourbon ones pop up. Jack Daniels invests pretty heavily, though I have seen some Evan Williams of late. Johnny Walker seems to go pretty heavy during the christmas season. Captain Morgan has had some amusing ads recently.

Oddly, I rarely buy liquors advertized on TV. Evan Williams is an exception, but I was buying that before they started advertizing.

Maybe you're just watching the wrong channels.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



How is that different from
1 sheet of paper
2 bails of hay
3 grains of sand
4 cup of coffee
5 volumes of encyclopaedia
6 lengths of timber
etc

Because the word changes depending on the number, not the object itself. In your example, "grains of sand" they will always be called grains of sand irregardless on how many there are. Except one, which would just make the word singular.

 

[Piobaire]



^hmmm


wait hard liquor ads are illegal?

what about all the tequila and vodka ads i see

Where do you live? I see plenty of commercials for liquor. Usually vodka, rum or those stupid "be manly" tequila ones, though occasionally I see some bourbon ones pop up. Jack Daniels invests pretty heavily, though I have seen some Evan Williams of late. Johnny Walker seems to go pretty heavy during the christmas season. Captain Morgan has had some amusing ads recently.

Oddly, I rarely buy liquors advertized on TV. Evan Williams is an exception, but I was buying that before they started advertizing.

Maybe you're just watching the wrong channels.

Been illegal in Canada for years.

Also, cigarette adds. Illegal in television in both countries I believe. Would rather see an ad about smokes too...and I hate cigarette smoke.

 

[Liam O]

i think it's actually the same thing except counting numbers are for different objects.
there's no english equivalent of ge tho because instead of saying yi ge ren you just say one person
instead of saying yi zhang zhi you say one sheet of paper. i guess the difference is it's wrong to say yi zhi whereas one paper just sounds more awkward than one sheet of paper

I don't think its the same though, measure words are unique, collective nouns are not. A flock is a flock in its own right, a ge is nothing without a number.

 

[indesertum]

this is true

 

[blahman]



I don't think its the same though, measure words are unique, collective nouns are not. A flock is a flock in its own right, a ge is nothing without a number.

Not really sure I understood what you said.
However the 'a' pretty much quantifies the 'flock' as being only one. And English has the whole plural form with slapping an 's' at the end of words which serves a very similar function to adding number in front of e.g. 'ge' . Languages like Chinese do not have plural forms so must need something to quantify one or many of certain object.

Because the word changes depending on the number, not the object itself. In your example, "grains of sand" they will always be called grains of sand irregardless on how many there are. Except one, which would just make the word singular.

Actually the words really don't dramatically change in the Japanese example raised by fang, but more so alternative forms in very defined pattern to support pronounciation depending on whether the number ends with a long or short sounding syllable:

1 animal ip-piki
2 animals ni-hiki
3 animals san-biki
4 animals yon-hiki
5 animals go-hiki
6 animals rop-piki
7 animals shichi-hiki (nana-hiki)
8 animals hap-piki
9 animals kyuu-hiki
10 animals jup-piki


Then again all languages have their little quirks. English is actually the weirdest most inconsistent of the lot. If an alien comes to earth to analyse structure of languages and words I'm pretty sure out of all the languages, they would point to English and go 'What the hell is this ****?!' and then post in this thread about it.

1 beep, 2 beeps?
1 sheep, 2 sheep?
1 mouse, 2 mice?
1 house, 2 houses?

is, are, was, were?
do, does?
will, won't?


*Alien head explodes*