News0 min ago
Foot
12 Answers
Why has foot largely replaced feet as a plural in everyday speech?
e.g. 17 foot long. 55 foot wide. 89,000 foot in diameter. etc.
e.g. 17 foot long. 55 foot wide. 89,000 foot in diameter. etc.
Answers
All language changes and shifts over time - like a 'pair of bodies' (two halves of a corset) becoming a bodice ( singular)
I wonder with this one if it's change is influenced by the abbreviation - ft - which sounds just like foot.
15:31 Sat 25th Feb 2012
The word foot has been used when describing height for as long as I can remember (50 years) Media URL: http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=johnny+cash+six+foot+six+he+stood+on+the+ground&pbx=1&oq=johnny+cash+six+foot&aq=1v&aqi=g1g-v2&aql=&gs_sm=1&gs_upl=1735l8968l0l12896l20l15l0l4l4l1l769l3973l0.5.4.1.1.1.1l17l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.o
Description:
Description:
I take it, Fred, that you refer to rugby forwards in your example. Whilst Bill McLaren might have often referred to a given Scottish forward as "seventeen stones on the hoof", I cannot imagine his ever saying, "He's a seventeen stoneS forward", can you? So the Scottish 'difference' may well be less marked than you assume.