Re: USAGE: Currencies and -s
| From: | Padraic Brown <pbrown@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, August 30, 2000, 1:51 |
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On Tue, 29 Aug 2000, Rik Roots wrote:
>> It's the plural of "penny" as a money of account. In other words,
>> 15 pence is a sum of money, regardless of what coins are used,
>> that equals 15p (or 15d before 1970). While 15 pennies is 15 1 penny
>> coins.
>>
>IIRC "pence" is an invented word, introduced at the time of UK
>decimalisation (1968-70), specifically to distinguish between old
>pennies (of which there were 240 to the pound) and new pence (100 to
>the pound).
I'm sure it's much older than the 60s. "New Pence" was made up
to distinguish, say, sixpence and six new pence (since sixpence
is equal to 2.5 new pence).
>I remember people hating the new word - my mother still
>does - but constant official usage over the past 30 years has made it
>the "accepted" plural of penny, in place of pennies.
This seems to be something different. Are they (mis)using "pence"
as the plural of penny coin? such that a small pile of penny coins
is a pile of "pence"? If so, <shudder>.
Padraic.
>Rik