Scottish independance and Union Flag

[staffssue]

If Scots vote for independance, would the Union Flag have to be redesigned, removing their part?

[chakka35]

Quizmonster, I have for a long time admired you so much for the wisdom and knowledge you bring to AB matters, especially when it comes to our language, that I was genuinely surprised to see you give the wrong plural to 'tankerful'.

[jno]

depends, chakka. The normal plural for, say, handful is handfuls; but that term concerns only the amount - not the container (that is, it doesn't require that there should be more than one hand).

But tankersful implies lots of tankers as well as lots of water - so it's halfway to being "tankers full". I find this acceptable.

[Quizmonster]

How kind of you, Chakka. My thanks for your comment. However, I'm afraid I have to agree with J here. I don't even like the SOUND of tankerfuls, never mind the technical aspect of it all!

[Old_Geezer]

No one has to redesign anything, but the opportunity would be there.

[vivandorron]

I wouldn't say that I am in favour of Scotland's proposed Independance.

Does it mean that there would be a Border Control and that Passports, Visas etc would become necessary to holiday in a beautiful country.?

I can imagine the UK Government putting up the tax on Whisky, Haggis Shortbread etc and smuggling then taking place. Custom officers with mirrors on their shoes to see what's hidden under kilts. ..It all makes my mind boggle.

Ron.

[DTCwordfan]

we could make turn the blue to black - to represent Cornwall as an independent country within the Union.. our Parliament, the Stannary, technically still exists, having never been repealed.

http://www.ukflagshop...ck-bandana-2566-p.jpg

[Quizmonster]

You're not supposed to say "What's hidden under kilts?" Ron, but rather "What's worn?" You see, if you don't, the Scotsman can't reply, "Therrre's naethin' worrrn under MA kilt; it's a' in perrrfect worrrkin' orrrderrr!"
(I'm a Scot, of course, so let's not have any silliness about racism or whatever.)

[emmie]

yes the flag would have to be redesigned, and if the Scots want independence then go for it. Suggest it won't happen, not in the way that Alex Salmond has in mind. But as said once before where do you draw the line, after all many Scots live in other parts of the UK, so do they all go back to Scotland, what about those of Scottish descent, where do they live?
Then of course all those who are not Scottish at all but live or study in Scotland, perhaps this is a different matter entirely, but it's something Mr Salmond should consider. Where is the dividing line between Scotland and England, Berwick on Tweed, anyone know?

[THECORBYLOON]

Does anyone believe seriously that Scots outwith Scotland should return to Scotland? Sounds like ethnic cleansing to me. With regard to Berwick-upon-Tweed, it's in England at the moment having been in and out of Scotland a fair few times.

[murraymints]

not going to happen !

[chakka35]

'Six tankers full' is fine: it denotes six vehicles each full of water. But 'tankerful' is purely a measure of volume, not of vehicles.
You can have six tankerfuls of water using only one tanker if it makes several journeys. In fact, if you know the volume of a tanker you can acquire a tankerful of water by other means - just as I can measure six teaspoonfuls of sugar with an appropriate measuring device provided I know the volume of a teaspoon.

There no precedent in English for constructing a plural by splitting a word in two, inserting the 's', then joining the word up again.

I'm sure you wouldn't say " I swallowed two mouthsful of soup" would you? Whether you like the sound of it or not, the plural of 'tankerful' is 'tankerfuls'.

[THECORBYLOON]

One court-martial, two courtS-martial. As for tankersful, it does make more sense to spell it that way even if it's not strictly correct and while we're at it, why is spoonful or any other ---ful not spelt with two l's?

[zebo]

Is Berwick on Tweed still technically at war with Russia as a result of its moving across the border a few times, or rather the border moving? Didn't the anomaly get sorted a while back? What would happen to children born in Scotland to English parents, are they Scottish or English?

[mike11111]

One tankerful, two tankers full. Simples.

[Quizmonster]

"Two tankers full of oil collided in the English Channel today." I have no quarrel with that two-word structure whatsoever, but it is basically referring to quite a different grammatical situation. Nor do I have any quibble about the strict 'correctness' of "Two tankerfuls of oil were delivered to our block of flats today."
What I said was that I didn't like the sound of the latter and thus had no qualms about using tankersful. In similar vein, imagine I tell an elderly relative I will visit later in the day and I subsequently knock on her door. From within I hear, "Who is it?" and reply, "It's me." Now, I know perfectly well that these words are 'incorrect', given that the verb to be does not involve accusative cases such as 'me', and that I should, therefore, have said, "It is I."
I don't CARE that "It's me" is 'wrong'; it's what I and about 99.999% of British people actually SAY.
I have a Master's degree in English and some decades of teaching it at various levels, including university. Accordingly, if I feel like "playing about" with any aspect of the subject, that's what I'll do and I don't really give a good goldarn for what anyone else on AnswerBank might have to say about it!
I prefer tankersful and tankers full is an irrelevance here. Simples!

[heathfield]

I note reports stating that Asda has emailed suppliers asking them not to deliver any items bearing images of the Union flag to their Scottish stores. (mugs, T-shirts and the like).

[vivandorron]

http://www.dailymail....ets-offend-Scots.html

Ron.