Foot

[gollysailor]

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.

[Mosaic]

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.

[chi-chi66]

I hate it when I hear a 'bit' of milk... or any liquid..instead of a drop.

[HowardKennitby]

sloppiness

[Maydup]

My Dad always said foot in the plural. But to be honest, I think "metre" has largely replaced feet in everday speech now!

[factor-fiction]

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:

[factor-fiction]

i meant this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liYqHEvOHi8

[factor-fiction]

Sorry if my post has broken Answerbank

[HowardKennitby]

factor

I don't think it is wise to rely on USofA for definitions of English.

[Quizmonster]

It's not a 'replacement' or anything recent at all; foot has been used in the singular - where a plural form might be expected - when associated with a number...eg five foot two high, three foot wide etc. It has certainly been used thus for the past half a millennium!

[emmie]

I always use the word foot if asked my height, as to metres wouldn't have a clue. Same as weight if I was told i was x kilos, it wouldn't make sense.

[FredPuli43]

Same as for 'stone'. Scots, in particular, say 'stones'; 'the forward is 17 stones';but 'stone' is the commoner usage. Neither 'stone' nor 'foot' as a plural is a recent development in the language.

[Quizmonster]

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.