[math-fun] sesqui-imponderables
If a chicken and a half lays an egg and a third ... Hey, wait a minute, why isn't "chicken and a half" plural? And which came first, the chicken and a half or the egg and a half? --rwg
1. ((a (chicken)) and (a (half))), not (a ((chicken) and (a (half)))). 2. The latter. Sincerely, Adam P. Goucher
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 at 5:32 PM From: "Bill Gosper" <billgosper@gmail.com> To: math-fun@mailman.xmission.com Subject: [math-fun] sesqui-imponderables
If a chicken and a half lays an egg and a third ... Hey, wait a minute, why isn't "chicken and a half" plural? And which came first, the chicken and a half or the egg and a half? --rwg _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 12:49 PM, Adam P. Goucher <apgoucher@gmx.com> wrote:
1. ((a (chicken)) and (a (half))), not (a ((chicken) and (a (half)))).
2. The latter.
Sincerely,
Adam P. Goucher
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 at 5:32 PM From: "Bill Gosper" <billgosper@gmail.com> To: math-fun@mailman.xmission.com Subject: [math-fun] sesqui-imponderables
If a chicken and a half lays an egg and a third ... Hey, wait a minute, why isn't "chicken and a half" plural? And which came first, the chicken and a half or the egg and a half? --rwg _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
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-- Andy.Latto@pobox.com
[sorry, hit send by mistake the first time] On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 1:18 AM, Andy Latto <andy.latto@pobox.com> wrote:
On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 12:49 PM, Adam P. Goucher <apgoucher@gmx.com> wrote:
1. ((a (chicken)) and (a (half))), not (a ((chicken) and (a (half)))).
That doesn't explain why it isn't plural; compound subjects of the form "A and B" are normally plural. Frog and Toad are Friends. Andy
"On the first day and a half, the Lord created the chicken-and-a-half / egg-and-a-half paradox" ? --Dan On Jul 19, 2014, at 9:32 AM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
If a chicken and a half lays an egg and a third ... Hey, wait a minute, why isn't "chicken and a half" plural? And which came first, the chicken and a half or the egg and a half?
And why is "about one quarter of all doctors" singular? --ms On 19-Jul-14 12:32, Bill Gosper wrote:
If a chicken and a half lays an egg and a third ... Hey, wait a minute, why isn't "chicken and a half" plural? And which came first, the chicken and a half or the egg and a half? --rwg _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
1. ((a (chicken)) and (a (half))), not (a ((chicken) and (a (half)))). 2. The latter. Sincerely, Adam P. Goucher Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 at 5:32 PM From: "Bill Gosper" < billgosper@gmail.com> To: math-fun@mailman.xmission.com Subject: [math-fun] sesqui-imponderables If a chicken and a half lays an egg and a third ... Hey, wait a minute, why isn't "chicken and a half" plural? And which came first, the chicken and a half or the egg and a half? --rwg It's "lay" because "if" takes a subjunctive! --rwg "On the first day and a half, the Lord created the chicken-and-a-half / egg-and-a-half paradox" ? --Dan (Asimov)
On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 12:13 PM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
It's "lay" because "if" takes a subjunctive! --rwg
I had to go look this up. I don't believe that before this I'd ever heard someone use the present subjunctive correctly. Past and future subjunctive I hear all the time, but never present. -- Mike Stay - metaweta@gmail.com http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~mike http://reperiendi.wordpress.com
"If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved." --The Bard --Dan On Jul 19, 2014, at 1:16 PM, Mike Stay <metaweta@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 12:13 PM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
It's "lay" because "if" takes a subjunctive! --rwg
I had to go look this up. I don't believe that before this I'd ever heard someone use the present subjunctive correctly. Past and future subjunctive I hear all the time, but never present. -- Mike Stay - metaweta@gmail.com http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~mike http://reperiendi.wordpress.com
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I take that back: I've heard it used often in sentences involving "to demand that", like "The police demand that he lay flat on the ground." On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 1:16 PM, Mike Stay <metaweta@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 12:13 PM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
It's "lay" because "if" takes a subjunctive! --rwg
I had to go look this up. I don't believe that before this I'd ever heard someone use the present subjunctive correctly. Past and future subjunctive I hear all the time, but never present. -- Mike Stay - metaweta@gmail.com http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~mike http://reperiendi.wordpress.com
-- Mike Stay - metaweta@gmail.com http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~mike http://reperiendi.wordpress.com
"Lie" is probably the wrong verb to use in an example here; it is too likely to contribute its own tense-confusion. Try restating the example with "stretch out" or "remain"? On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 5:00 PM, Mike Stay <metaweta@gmail.com> wrote:
I take that back: I've heard it used often in sentences involving "to demand that", like "The police demand that he lay flat on the ground."
On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 1:16 PM, Mike Stay <metaweta@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 12:13 PM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
It's "lay" because "if" takes a subjunctive! --rwg
I had to go look this up. I don't believe that before this I'd ever heard someone use the present subjunctive correctly. Past and future subjunctive I hear all the time, but never present. -- Mike Stay - metaweta@gmail.com http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~mike http://reperiendi.wordpress.com
-- Mike Stay - metaweta@gmail.com http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~mike http://reperiendi.wordpress.com
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Sure: "The police demand that he remain [not remains!] on the ground." On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 2:15 PM, Allan Wechsler <acwacw@gmail.com> wrote:
"Lie" is probably the wrong verb to use in an example here; it is too likely to contribute its own tense-confusion. Try restating the example with "stretch out" or "remain"?
On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 5:00 PM, Mike Stay <metaweta@gmail.com> wrote:
I take that back: I've heard it used often in sentences involving "to demand that", like "The police demand that he lay flat on the ground."
On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 1:16 PM, Mike Stay <metaweta@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 12:13 PM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
It's "lay" because "if" takes a subjunctive! --rwg
I had to go look this up. I don't believe that before this I'd ever heard someone use the present subjunctive correctly. Past and future subjunctive I hear all the time, but never present. -- Mike Stay - metaweta@gmail.com http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~mike http://reperiendi.wordpress.com
-- Mike Stay - metaweta@gmail.com http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~mike http://reperiendi.wordpress.com
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-- Mike Stay - metaweta@gmail.com http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~mike http://reperiendi.wordpress.com
participants (7)
-
Adam P. Goucher -
Allan Wechsler -
Andy Latto -
Bill Gosper -
Dan Asimov -
Mike Speciner -
Mike Stay